A/N: Hello! I'm back, and I'm still lazy.-blushes- This chapter should have been out sooner. Forgive me, but things got in my way. -goes back to reading Stephen King's Pet Semetary- And for those of you that don't know, the title is SUPPOSE to be spelt like that. I'm not the one messing up for once! Thanks to Nekotsuki for the beta work!
Oh… one more note. Killing off the main character gets you a lot of reviews! I think this chapter got the most reviews out of all the chapters.
REVIEWERS!
lolo popoki - Buw ha ha! Yes, I am the best Kenshin torturer! -laughs evilly-
aznpuffyhair - I like to leave cliff hangers right before I kill Kenshin because I find more people review when I do that. -grins- I found the way to get people to review! BUW HA HA!
droparmor - Ew… -wipes up puke-
Stella-neko - I'm glad you liked my character development… I always thought it was weak, but if you liked the OCs then maybe I'm not too bad at it.
WolfDaughter - Here's the update!
Daewen98 - Yay! You like my writing! It made my day to hear that!
Hitokiri Musei - Hmm… by your review I think it's safe to say you liked the chapter. -grin-
AuburnMoonlight - Take all the time you need for the pictures! I don't want to make you feel rushed.
Shadow Wolf of the Blue Moon - I'm hoping to update Violet Eyed Angel the same day that I post the last chapter to this fic. -coughs- If I ever remember to send it to Nekotsuki for betaing. I have the second chapter written, just not looked over. And as for the gun... I think Kenshin would whap people over the head with it.
Chapter 25 - Intervention
His eyes closed, Kenshin waited for the blow; whether it was the final one, or Hiroko was just planning on causing him more pain, didn't matter. Kenshin knew that soon he was going to bleed to death anyway.
"Matte!" Groggily he opened his eyes. Reizo was standing between him and Hiroko, holding Hiroko's hand with the dagger in it. "I will not allow you do this." He already had his sword drawn, fresh blood starting to dry on it. "I won't let you kill him!"
"Stand down!" Hiroko barked. "You're in enough trouble as it is."
"I don't know how you found this place, but I'm not going to let you kill him! I'm not going to listen to you anymore!" The other men seemed shocked and began to whisper about Reizo.
"You would protect him? You're killing yourself, Reizo, for a murderer," Hiroko hissed at him.
With a yell, Reizo pushed Hiroko back and defensively held his sword out in front of him. "We're ALL murderers! We all kill! There's no difference!"
"Not like him! He's a demon!" one of the men yelled out. "Besides, he's the enemy! He must die!"
Hiroko smiled at Reizo. "Baka, what do you plan to do? Do you think you can fight and win against all of us?" he asked, slowly waving his arm across his men.
"Reizo, g-get out of…" Kenshin attempted to speak, but couldn't finish.
At first Reizo's face set into a snarl, then his mouth turned into a slight grin. "No, but I just have to stall. I went to get help; soon, a whole army will be here. You'll be overrun and defeated."
Hiroko's pleased look faltered. "You're bluffing."
"Am I? Why else would I barge in here? Do you really think I would throw my life away that recklessly? But then again, I may be bluffing. Hang around and find out. You'd just better hope your men can handle themselves if I'm not."
Hiroko clenched his teeth and looked down at Kenshin. A pool of blood collected in the upturned table. He wouldn't live much longer. He looked back at Reizo; being a master of interrogation, he looked for any tell-tale signs of lying. Reizo was looking him in the eye and his breathing was steady, although he was tense, but that was to be expected for a man in his position. He didn't seem as tense as someone who was telling a lie would.
"Well, Hiroko? Am I going to have to fight you, or are you going to leave before the others get here?"
Hiroko snorted and took one last look at Kenshin. 'He's not going to make it,' he thought, noting how pale Kenshin's skin had quickly gotten, how shallow his breathing was, and how his face was distorted with pain. 'I can't risk my men.' He straightened and turned to his men. "We're done here." His men seemed nervous and some glared at Reizo, but they followed orders and began to leave. Hiroko returned the dagger to its hiding place in his sleeve as his men left, and then turned his back to Reizo.
As Hiroko turned to leave, Reizo began to lower his guard, when Hiroko spun back around and drew his katana. Reizo let out a surprised yelp, but managed to block the attack. Hiroko tried to push the spy backwards and he almost stepped on Kenshin. With a mighty and determined yell, Reizo pushed back and threw Hiroko off him.
As he stumbled backwards, Reizo lunged forward and attempted to thrust his blade straight into Hiroko's chest. Hiroko dashed to the side, avoiding the fatal blow, but getting skewered in his upper right arm. He hissed and held the injury before looking up and glaring back at Reizo. Reizo smirked back at him; he had injured his sword arm.
"Captain!" Some of his men rushed forward, ready to fight Reizo, but Hiroko stopped them.
"Fight me Hiroko." Reizo taunted. "I'll gladly cut you up into little bits before the others get here!"
"Don't think I'm going to forget this," Hiroko growled, tenderly holding his arm. "Do you really think those Ishin Shishi scum are going to let you go? You're a spy, Reizo." He paused, as a smile crept across his face. "And I'll make sure they know that." He laughed. "You're doomed, Reizo, because if they don't kill you, I will." He looked to his worried men. "Let's go, they aren't worth our time."
When he finally turned and left, Reizo let out a relieved sigh. For a moment he just stood there, relaxing for a moment. That was close; he'd thought for sure Hiroko would have sent all his men after him. He let out one more sigh before leaning down towards Kenshin. "Himura…" he said softly, frightened by all the blood pouring out of him.
Reizo moved to care for the injury. "N…Neko." Kenshin said in a voice so quiet Reizo could hardly hear him. "N..ko." His words were slurring together.
"Huh? Oh!" Reizo sprung to his feet, but stopped and looked uncertainly down at Kenshin. He looked towards the back room then back down to Kenshin. "I'll be right back! Don't die on me Himura!" He dashed into the back room.
The three men took Neko outside to the side of the house like they had been told. They set her down on the grass and sat down next to her. None made another move; even if she was a slave, they just didn't feel right taking advantage of an unresponsive little girl.
"Do you think Hiroko-san will be upset if one of us doesn't do something?" One man, Yasuharu, said, feeling quite awkward. The others thought about that.
"Ken…shin." Neko moaned, and started to lift her head.
"Stay down, brat." Another, Takashi, said in a gruff voice. Neko gave a squeak and ducked her head away from him.
"So what should we do?" Yasuharu asked again.
Just then a chilling scream came from inside the house. Neko quickly sat up. "Kenshin!"
She started to get up, but Takashi pulled her back down. "I said stay down!" This time he held her down by placing his hand over her chest.
"He's hurting! Please stop! Please make him stop hurting Kenshin," Neko cried, trying to worm her way away from the man's hand. The other's laughed.
"Kenshin? Is that the Battòsai's name?" The third who had been quiet so far, Koji, said with a laugh.
"Why should we stop Hiroko-san? He's doing the world a great favor, killing that bastard," Yasuharu added.
"Don't call him that!" Neko snapped and bit Takashi's arm. The other two laughed as their companion yelled out.
"Damn bitch."
Yasuharu was the first to stop laughing. "Do you think Hiroko might be taking this too far?" he asked in a timid voice.
"What do you mean?" Koji asked, although the look on his face showed that he understood Yasuharu's question. Even Takashi paused his violent shaking of his hand, lost in deep thought.
"You know what I mean," he said nervously. "Hiroko may be our Captain but -"
Another scream, this time even worse than the last. Even Hiroko's men suddenly felt sorry for the Battòsai. "Kenshin." Neko moaned and covered her ears. She curled up into a ball and started to shake. Her eyes were wide and she kept muttering Kenshin's name. "Don't die."
"Oi." Koji gave Neko a gentle shake. If she felt his hand on her shoulder, she didn't respond to it. "You okay?"
"Hey, it's Reizo." Takashi said, and the other two looked behind them and saw Reizo making his way to them. "Hey! Reizo!" Takashi and Yasuharu stood to greet Reizo, while Koji stayed down to hang onto Neko.
Reizo looked angry as he walked up to them. "What's going on!" He demanded.
"Hiroko-san is inside. He's got the Battòsai strapped down in there." Takashi gave a weak, disheartened smile. "And it sounds like he's having a good time too."
Reizo's lip turned up in a slight snarl as he pointed down to Neko. "What about her?"
Koji pulled Neko into a hug. "Hiroko-san told us to have fun with her." He started to laugh, joined in with the other two.
Now Reizo did growl, a full snarl on his face. He quickly put a stop to the men's laughing as he drew his sword and quickly ran it across Yasuharu's throat. Yasuharu grabbed the bleeding area, but soon fell to his knees, then slumped to the ground. Reizo raised his sword at the two startled men. "Don't touch her."
"Reizo… wha-what are you doing!" Takashi yelled. He started to reach for his sword but Reizo quickly stopped him by taking his own sword and running it across his stomach. Takashi's hands shot down towards the injury as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell to the ground.
Reizo turned his gaze towards the last one. "Let her go," he said angrily.
Koji released Neko and started to back away, not even thinking of using her as a shield. "Please Reizo! Don't kill me! I was only following orders!"
"I can't do that." Reizo brought his sword up and sliced his head in two.
Neko sat, eyes wide and mouth agape, starring at the bodies. She was shaking more than ever. Reizo knelt down to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Neko, I had to do it." Reizo wanted to explain away what he had just done, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. "I had to--" He trailed off.
His mind moved away from apologizing to Neko; that could wait. "Neko, what is happening inside?" He needed to come up with a plan.
"Kenshin." She mumbled a few times, then started to sob. "Kenshin, Kenshin was, he was screaming." She stuttered a few times, putting special emphasis on the last word. "Kenshin! Kenshin! Kenshin!" she yelled over and over again.
Reizo grabbed both of her shoulders and tried to shake her to her senses. "Neko! Calm down! Relax!" She stopped screaming, but she kept sobbing and shaking, softly muttering Kenshin's name over and over again.
'This isn't good.' Reizo picked up the distressed girl and cradled her in his arms as he made his way towards the back. He looked inside the hole that he had made himself in case of an emergency, and tried to see if anyone was in the second room. No one was; walking in slowly, he sat Neko down near a far wall. He didn't need Hiroko going outside and find her sitting there helplessly.
"Wait here," he told Neko as he sat her down. He smiled. "I'll save Himura." She didn't even look at him, just stared ahead of her with her eyes wide open. 'I hope I can,' Reizo thought, his heart dropping at the look on Neko's face.
He walked up to the door separating the two rooms. 'I can do this.' He mentally tried to prepare himself, but once he opened the door and saw the crowded room, his resolve lessened. 'I can't do this.' His eyes found Hiroko standing over Kenshin. He panicked a second when he saw all the blood coming from Kenshin, then raced out to grab Hiroko's dagger before it had time to spill any more of the redhead's blood.
Neko stayed where she was, hugging her knees close to her. Her teeth were chattering as she shook. She didn't know how much time had passed before Reizo came running back to her. He bent over to pick her up. "Kenshin?" she asked, finding whole sentences to be too hard.
At first he didn't answer her, just picked her up. He started to carry her out into the front room. "Kenshin?" she asked again.
Reizo was on the verge of breaking down. "I don't know if he's going to make it," he said honestly, voice barely above a whisper. He could feel Neko's breath catch in her lungs.
"K..en..sh..in?" she asked in an even more pitiful voice, on the verge of tears.
Reizo turned her head away, so that she was looking at the wall. "Just look at the wall, don't look at him." He took a lungful of air to steady his voice. "Don't look at him." He sat her down right next to the wall, then he quickly left to help Kenshin.
"Himura, I'm so sorry." He apologized over and over again, as he started to take off his gi, leaving him with his yukata; he wadded the clothing up and pressed it to the gaping wound. Kenshin hissed a little from the pressure. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"
Neko at first sat where Reizo had placed her. After a while, she slowly began to turn her head to try and catch a glimpse of her angel. The first thing her eye caught was her angel's pale face, then red smears on his body. She jerked her head back, that image burning into her memory at the back of her mind. "Kenshin…" She moved her mouth, but no words came out. She shivered slightly, and her breathing picked up. Terror ran through her nerves; every second that passed, her breathing increased. "Kenshin," she hardly managed to squeak out.
She turned again, this time all the way around. Kenshin's eyes were shut in pain. His skin was so pale, blood smeared on various parts of his body, pooling what seemed to be mostly at his side. Her mouth moved to speak his name but no words came out. Her eyes had yet to move down to see his side clearly. Now she slowly and fearful let them trail down, each sight getting more gruesome as she went down.
Her eyes opened wide in horror when she finally got down to the actual injury. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched Reizo desperately trying to stop the bleeding. His arms were covered up to his elbows in blood. He was sweating with the effort to stop the flow. Neko couldn't take it anymore. "KENSHIN!"
At Neko's scream, Kenshin opened his eyes and Reizo looked over to her. He quickly grabbed her and turned her around. "I told you not to look!" He looked fearful as Neko broke down into a fit of sobs. Not having time to comfort her, he turned back and tried to take care of Kenshin.
'I can't do this!' he thought, continuing to press on the wound. It was the only thing he knew to do. 'I need help.' He could only think of one place to get help from. Reaching for his sword once more, he pulled it out and carefully cut Kenshin's hands loose.
'His wrists are bleeding,' he noticed for the first time, as he cut them free. "Himura, I've got to go get help. I need you to hold this to your side." Kenshin rolled his head slightly towards Reizo, made a motion that looked like he was trying to nod his head. His finger tips twitched slightly, but didn't move. With a sigh, Kenshin turned his head away from Reizo, too tired to try.
'This isn't good, he's too weak.' Reizo started to panic. He couldn't just leave Himura here, pressure needed to be applied to his wound. Then again, if he stayed here, Himura would surely bleed to death. He looked over to Neko who was bent over, and looked to be on the verge of being sick.
He hated asking her, but he was running out of options and time. "Neko, I need your help to save Kenshin. Can you do it?"
Neko seemed to snap out of a nightmare. "Ken…shin?"
"Yes, he needs your help." She looked up at him and gave a quick nod.
"Kenshin… I help…Kenshin."
'That's it, stay with me Neko.' He helped her to turn around, but she yelped and turned her head away at the first sight of blood. "It's all right Neko, just close your eyes." She shut her eyes and Reizo guided her hand to where she had to apply pressure. As soon as Neko felt the warm, sticky, liquid that was Kenshin's blood she pulled back with a cry. "Neko, you have to do this. For Kenshin." He pushed her hand up closer; this time, she didn't pull away.
She was sobbing as Reizo told her how he wanted her to hold it. "That's it, good girl Neko. I have to go. Go get help."
"Help…" Neko mumbled.
"Yes," he whispered as he left, leaving at a dead run back into the city.
For a while Neko sat, shaking and weeping, with her eyes tightly shut. She could feel Kenshin's shallow breathing through her hands, which told her he was still alive. She started to open her eyes; the first sight she saw was blood. She quickly shut them again. She repeated this a few times; each time she left her eyes open just a little bit longer. Finally she was able to keep her eyes open.
The sight and smell of so much blood made her stomach turn. She did her best to not throw up. Looking away from the blood, she looked into Kenshin's dull eyes. "Kenshin?" His eyes slowly turned towards her. "Kens-I'm-please don't die," she said softly. He gave her a weak smile, but it did nothing to comfort her.
Had Reizo been thinking a little more clearly, he would have noticed the horrified looks of the men and women he had passed on the street. With his hair a mess, wearing only yukata, blood starting to dry halfway up his arms, and a frantic look in his eyes, he was a sight to behold. All he could think about at the moment was how he wished his bluff to Hiroko hadn't been a lie. That men were really on their way to help him.
He saw the inn getting bigger up ahead of him; he didn't even slow as he burst through the doors. "Yasuo-sensei! Takeo-sensei! Itsuo-sensei!" He yelled throughout the Inn, hoping one of them was still there and ignoring the Innkeeper's angry shouts for him to stop.
Running down a hall he spotted someone he knew to be an Ishin Shishi member and quickly ran up to him. "Is Yas-"
"Reizo?" The man seemed stunned at first, and then looked down at Reizo's hands. "What have you done?" he growled.
"What-" Before Reizo had time to respond, someone walked up behind him and put a sword against his throat.
"I don't know why you came back, but you're going to regret it," the man behind him hissed.
"Don't, please listen to me," Reizo spoke slowly, afraid of what the man behind him was planning on doing.
"We're not going to listen to some spy!" the man in front snapped. "What have you done to the Battòsai?"
"That's what I need to tell you! He's hurt really bad! I need to take you to him! He needs help!" The sword was pressed closer to his throat.
"LIES!" the man with the sword yelled. "You're just saying that, you want to lead us into a trap!"
"No! You must believe me!"
The man pushed on Reizo's back, driving him forward. "I'm not going to believe a word you say. Michihiro, go get some rope, we'll let Katsura-san take care of him."
The man in front nodded and quickly walked away. "Stop this! Himura's dying! If we don't go soon it will be too late!" Reizo was furious; he couldn't let it end this way, but the man wouldn't listen to him, and soon Reizo found his arms tied behind his back and he was being led down the hall.
Takeo was standing outside Kenshin and Neko's old room, thinking, when Reizo was dragged by him, begging the two men that were dragging him to listen to him. Seeing Takeo, Reizo's heart lifted slightly. "Takeo-sensei, please! You must listen to me!"
Michihiro punched Reizo in the stomach. "Shut up!" He turned and bowed his head slightly to Takeo. "He's the spy, you mustn't believe anything he says."
"Please Takeo-sensei! Himura's dying! He's bleeding really badly and he's alone with Neko! They need help!"
"I said shut up!" Michihiro punched Reizo again.
Reizo groaned, but begged again. "Please, it may already be too late. I'll tell you where he is! Please!" Michihiro moved to hit Reizo once more.
"Matte." Takeo raised his hand and stopped Michihiro. "Did you take Kenshin and Neko?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"There's no time for this!"
"One more question, is that Himura's blood on you hands?"
"Yes, but I swear! I didn't hurt him! You have to hurry! It might already be too late." Takeo closed his eyes, lost in thought.
"Takeo-sensei, please tell me you aren't going to listen to him! He's a spy! He's probably sending us right into a trap."
"It's not a trap!"
Takeo opened his eyes. "Tell me where he is." Reizo sighed, relieved, and quickly told the doctor where to find Neko and Kenshin. Once he finished, Reizo allowed the two men to lead him away as Takeo grabbed his medical supplies and a few good men who would follow him. Then Takeo raced off to find Kenshin, hoping he wasn't too late.
A/N: I could be wrong on this fact, but I believe many people wear a yukata under their gi. That's what I'm trying to talk about in this chapter when I make references to Reizo's yukata, so please, if I named this article of clothing wrong or I got my facts mixed up, PLEASE tell me.