A/N: Ack! I'm late! Sorry for the delay, life just keeps trying to butt in!

REVIEWERS!

Yukimi Daimouru - You'll have to keep reading to find out! That is… IF he gets away…

Insane Chipmunk - Thanks for the review!

moeru himura - Buw ha! You can feel it? Yes! Now I'm torturing my readers as well! -evil laughter-

lolo popoki - Yes… I know the pain of hot water. After all, the inspriation for the last chapter was the bad burns I suffered when I was eight… er but that was at lest only my foot…

FairyMage - What? I'm not suppose to like torturing Kenshin? -evil grin-

Hitokiri Musei - Sorry the updating wasn't faster, but I hope this was still pretty quick!

AuburnMoonlight - Sorry! No matter how much you beg I can't change the chapters. This story was already posted once and completed, stupid fanfiction(dot)net removed it and now I'm posting it again under R… er… M… whatever. You're not the only one in love with torture. Nearly every story I write has some sort of torture, just the rest aren't written as good as this one.

Shadow Wolf of the Blue Moon - I don't understand why everyone wants to see Hiroko dead…

AekaAnime - No problem! Sorry it's taken so long!

Chapter 14 - Worthless

Neko shivered in the puddle that had formed in the night. The rain had died down to a small drizzle sometime right before dawn, and by mid-morning it had finally stopped. The dogs had settled down and had fallen asleep at the ends of their leashes, so if she came any closer they could bite her.

Neko's teeth clattered as she held herself, trying to gain any kind of warmth she could. She was so cold. "I want to go home!" she cried, between sobs. She looked to the house and saw a man saddling a white horse that stood pawing the ground. She watched the man as he worked, wishing he would come and help her.

After a while, Muroi came out and patted the horse. He looked towards Neko, who shuddered under his glare. As he approached her, the dogs stood up and began to bark happily at their Master. Muroi ignored them and went straight to the pole she was tied to. He undid the knots that bound her to the pole and picked her up. Neko clung to him, fearful that he was going to toss her to his dogs again.

He didn't. Instead, he handed her to his other slave as he mounted the horse. Once he was settled, he reached out his arms. "Give her to me." The man did as he was told and handed Neko up to him. Muroi positioned her so she was sitting in front of him. She clutched the horse's mane, feeling dizzy and cold. Muroi gave the horse a gentle prod of his heels and the horse moved into a trot.

'Where is he taking me?' Neko thought numbly, as she shivered. She didn't really care; she was just glad to be away from the dogs. She curled her fingers deeper into the horse's mane, desperate for the little warmth it gave to her fingers. She was still soaking wet, and the cold wind that blew into her face wasn't helping her get warm.

Neko let her head fall forward. She hadn't slept all night and her body ached. Her grip started to loosen as her eyelids began to fall. She leaned forward slightly, a bit too far; her heart leapt as she started to plunge head first to the ground. She didn't even think to scream as she started to fall, but a supportive arm caught her and pulled her back. "If you fall again, I'm not catching you." Neko mentally stuck her tongue out at Muroi, too tired to do it physically.

The rest of the trip, she forced her eyes to remain open. Each time the horse moved, her leg would bump slightly against its side. The waves of pain made her struggle to stay awake even harder. She didn't even realize she was crying.

When they finally stopped, she picked up her heavy head and looked ahead of them. She could make out blurry figures. She forced her eyes open just a little more, and saw that there were people standing around a few carts. Neko's brain was trying to figure out what was going on at a sluggish pace. It was interrupted when Muroi picked her up and half dropped her to the ground.

Neko awkwardly picked herself up. Her hands were still tied together, making the task a bit difficult. Muroi stepped down beside her and quickly made his way towards a tall, black-haired man. Why did he look so familiar? She couldn't place him, and moved on to the others that were standing around.

"Ah, Muroi-san!" The man Neko had half recognized called out. "Need another woman?"

"No. Not today, Junko," Muroi answered, with a shake of his head. "I need to talk to you about something you sold me."

'Why do some of these people look so familiar?' Neko wondered as she looked over the men and women who stood around with their eyes cast down. Slowly, her brain placed faces with names and where she had met that person. 'Wait. I know where I am.' Her heart lightened just slightly. "Makoto. Where's Makoto?" she asked, looking for the man that had been her replacement grandfather.

"Makoto, where's Makoto?" She called out to the people standing around. Where was her friend? Why couldn't she find him? She pulled herself up, moving closer to the other slaves. Seeing one she recognized as being friendly to her before, she grabbed at the woman's kimono. "Please, where is Makoto?"

The woman was scared. She wasn't suppose to talk. Her lips quivered as she tried to decided whether to answer or not.

"Please. Tell me where Makoto is!"

"I don't know who you are talking about."

"Makoto. He was an old man. He didn't have many teeth. He was really nice." Neko could have gone on, but the woman's eyes widened with fear and it stopped her.

"He's not here." She whispered so quietly that Neko almost didn't hear.

"Was he sold?"

The woman shook her head. "No."

"Then … then … then where is he?" Neko asked, her voice breaking as she held back her tears.

"They, they killed him. They said he was useless." The women bit her lip and waited.

"NO!" Neko wailed. How could people just kill someone like that? They could have freed him. Given him away free. They didn't have to kill him! "Why? Why! WHY!" Neko pounded her hands on the dirt and cried. "Why, why, why, why?"

"What's wrong? Is she not pleasing in bed?" Junko asked Muroi.

"It's not just that. She hasn't been broken. I want you to replace her."

Junko shrugged. "You're the one who bought her. It's not my fault if you bought her too soon." He sighed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do for you. After all, you always keep me in business." Just then, a loud wail rang out and the two men looked over at Neko, who was the one screaming.

The two made their way to Neko. "Be silent!" Muroi yelled, and gave Neko a quick slap to the head. She quieted but she still sobbed.

"You crippled her!" Junko yelled. "I'm not taking her back like that! She's worthless!" He pointed to Neko's leg.

"I'm useless just like Makoto! Is that it!" Neko yelled glaring up at Junko. "You're a murderer! I hate you! I hate you! I hate--" A swift kick to her stomach by Muroi made her choke on her words.

"I said, shut up," Muroi growled, before turning back to Junko. "I want you to replace her."

"No! I am not taking that."

As the two fought, Neko could only hold her stomach and glare angrily up at them. How dare they kill Makoto? It wasn't fair. She was starting to give herself a headache, she was so upset. But she didn't care. She could never forgive them.

Muroi and Junko eventually stopped fighting. Muroi picked Neko off the ground. "Fine." He wasn't happy.

"Sorry you had to come all the way out here, but I can't take her."

Muroi snorted. "I'll have to find some use for her then." He handed Neko over to Junko. "Hand her up to me." He quickly mounted his horse and Junko handed Neko over to him.

"Have a nice day, Muroi-san," Junko said casually, as he quickly turned his horse around and left.

Neko's leg bounced against the horse's side even more then it had done on the way to the slave traders. The dull ache hardly pierced her thoughts. They'd killed Makoto. They'd killed an old man just because he was 'useless.' How dare they kill him? She was furious. Her fatigue was forgotten for the moment and her shivering lessened slightly.

Gradually, her anger lessened as the thought rose that Makoto, another friend, was dead. He was gone and she was never going to see him again. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her friend was dead. The nice old man, that had even taken a beating for her, was dead. What if that had been the reason? What if they killed him because of that? But that hadn't been his fault, it had been hers. He was dead. Makoto was dead and so were her parents and so was her angel. Neko cried.

Arriving home, Muroi took Neko inside and back to the room he had locked her in so many times. In the center of the room, he dropped her. "You can't walk or do anything. You're worthless." He nudged her with his foot. "Your face is no longer appealing." He added looking over the bruises he had caused on her body. "You're good for nothing, but a thing to kick." He raised his foot and prepared to kick her. Neko shut her eyes waiting for the strike.

"Please stop!" Neko opened her eyes and Muroi turned around to look at Akina, who stood in the doorway. She was shaking and she had her head down. "Please. Please stop," she begged, holding on to the door frame to keep herself up. "Please don't hurt her."

Muroi lowered his foot and walked over to Akina. He stood in front of her for a while, not saying anything. Then he suddenly raised his hand and slapped her across the face. "How dare you speak back to me!" he yelled, his face turning red.

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" Akina let go of the door and fell to her knees, holding her cheek. "I'm sorry, Master."

Muroi grabbed a handful of Akina's silky hair and pulled her head back. "That's right, I'm the Master and may do as I please!" He raised his hand and struck her again.

"STOP IT!" Neko shrieked, scrambling, trying to pull herself to Akina. "STOP IT!" But Muroi didn't stop; he grabbed Akina and gave her a quick punch to the stomach. "STOP IT!"

He turned to Neko and left Akina gasping on the floor. "You're turning my other slaves against me!" he yelled as he kicked her side. "You attacked me!" He grabbed her, picked her up, and tossed her across the small room. "You are WORTHLESS to me!" He slapped her across the face.

Akina grabbed her head and screamed as Neko cried in pain. She had wanted to help Neko, now look what happened. She was powerless to do anything.

Akina's screaming stopped Muroi. He was getting a headache. He needed to get out of there. He turned his back to Neko and grabbed Akina's arm, and dragged her out of the room before shutting and locking the door. "If I find out that you were in there, I will kill both of you! Got it?" he shouted at her. Akina could only nod her head, too afraid to raise her voice again. "Good. I'm going out."

Neko stared into the darkness of the room. Muroi thought she was worthless, did that mean he was going to kill her? She wasn't sure if she was scared to die. Her mother, father, Kenshin, and now Makoto were all dead, why shouldn't she die? Besides she hurt so much.

In the mists of the darkness, Neko thought she could see two glowing amber eyes. She pushed herself up slightly. "Kenshin?" she whispered. Out of the darkness, a young man with red hair stepped out with a grin on his face. "You've come to save me!" He knelt down beside her and touched her cheek. She closed her eyes; why couldn't she feel his hand against her? She opened her eyes again to find Kenshin missing.

"Kenshin?" She looked around for him. "Don't leave me! Please don't leave me!" She yelled frantically. "Kenshin! Come back!" She shivered. "I don't want to be alone."