A New Battle

Chapter 8 - Kaoru Learns The Truth

Kaoru awoke the next morning and let out a long stretch as her groggy mind began to remember the previous night's events. She vaguely remembered eating dinner and watching a movie with Kenshin and that was about it, she looked around and realized that she was in her room but she couldn't recall how she'd gotten there. After a moment she recalled falling asleep on Kenshin's shoulder and a flush came to her face, feeling slightly embarrassed about passing out on him, "He must've carried me to bed... I should go and talk to him."

Kaoru quickly changed into her favorite pair of jeans and a yellow T-shirt before heading off to find Kenshin. She looked in the kitchen and in the laundry room but didn't find him in either place, "Kenshin!" she called out to him.

She heard two voices coming from the other side of the house and she hurried off down the hall, peaking around the corner to see Kenshin talking with Gaiyo, straining her ears so that she could hear what they were saying, "What do you mean that she ran into him!" Kenshin asked angrily

"I mean that last night, on her way home, she ran into him and he asked her out, but luckily for all of us she declined his offer." Gaiyo explained

"And you didn't kill him!"

"No, Kaoru was too close, and besides, where were you, Kenshin? Aren't you the one who's supposed to be protecting her?"

"I was here, she said she'd be right back and besides, I figured that you would keep an eye on her, but that's apparently all you did! He could've kidnaped her, killed her, or worse, Gaiyo!"

"I know that, Kenshin, but he didn't do anything and before I could make a move he was gone. The worst part of this is that he knows where she lives now and he's just waiting for the opportunity to make his move."

"And that's why we've got to stop him as soon as possible! There has to be a way of luring him out."

"There is a way but you won't go through with it."

"No, I won't, I refuse to put her in danger!"

Gaiyo looked at him for a long moment before he realized something that should've already been obvious, "You're in love with her, aren't you, Kenshin?"

"What... no... Kaoru's just..."

"Just a friend? I don't believe you, every time I even hint at the possibility of using her as bait you go Battousai on me and freak out."

"What do you want me to say, Gaiyo? Do you want me to say 'fine let's go through with it' or do you want me to say 'if you bring it up again I'll kill you?'"

"No, I'd like for you to tell me why in the hell you are so protective suddenly over a young girl which you hardly know."

"Because I'm in love with her, alright! There, I said it, I'm in love with Kaoru and I refuse to put her in danger just so I can kill an old enemy. She's already been attacked once and I won't let her go through that again."

"Kenshin, listen to me, we'll be right there with her, I know you have strong feelings for her and want to protect her but unless we kill Norihiko she will continue to be in grave danger."

"I know that, Gaiyo, but... I... I don't want to lose Kaoru."

"Like you did Tomoe?"

Kenshin was silent for a long time before he let out a sad sight, "Don't bring that up right now, Tomoe was a traitor and I dealt with that. Yes, I care for Kaoru and I know I'm over reacting but... I haven't felt this way about someone since the last time I was human..."

Kenshin raised his hand and traced his scar, pushing away the memory that came with it, "It doesn't matter, the past is the past, Kaoru's the only thing that I care about right now and I don't intend to let anyone take her away from me, not Norihiko or anyone else, if that means that I have to become a manslayer and kill again then that is what I will do, I will not lose someone else that I love."

"Kensin?"

Both men let out a gasp and they turned around to see a very confused Kaoru standing next to them, "Kaoru... how long have you been there?" Kenshin asked quietly

"Long enough... you're not really going to kill someone... are you, Kenshin?"

Kenshin and Gaiyo looked to one another for an answer but Gaiyo cleared his throat and stepped back to leave, "I... have to leave, I'll fill you in if I hear more."

"Thanks." was all Kenshin said as he watched his friend leave the dojo.

He turned to Kaoru and let out a sigh when he saw the confused look deep in her dark eyes, "Kaoru... I can explain..."

"What were you two talking about, what did he mean by using me as bait, and who are you going to kill?"

"Kaoru... it's difficult to talk about... I don't know how to tell you."

"Then just explain the best you can, Kenshin."

Kenshin sighed, "Alright, do you remember the night you were attacked?"

"Yes."

"Well... the vampire that attacked you is a Rogue named Norihiko and... we have reason to believe that he's still after you."

"Why would he still be after me?"

"Because you're strong, because you got away from him and survived. He enjoys killing especially those who are stronger than him and if he can't kill them then he'll turn them into a vampire. Gaiyo and I have been tracking him for awhile and we've been trying to think of ways to get him to come out and fight so we can defeat him."

"Is that why you and Gaiyo always go off by yourselves to talk?"

"Yes, I didn't want to get you involved more than you already are and also... I was... afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?"

"I was afraid that you'd find out who I really am."

"What do you mean?"

Kenshin sighed again, "You know about all the vampire attacks that have been going on the past few weeks?"

"Yes."

"Well... I know the vampire who's been attacking everyone."

"And you haven't stopped him!"

"No, we let him bite people so Norihiko will get angry and come out into the open but so far it hasn't worked."

"How do you know that the vampire who's helping you won't turn against you?"

"He won't."

"How do you know that, Kenshin, how can you be so sure?"

"I know because..."

"Kenshin, just tell me."

Kenshin was silent for a long moment before he finally answered, "I know... because I'm the one who's been doing the attacking."

"What!"

"I'm the one who's been attacking all of those people the past couple of weeks... I'm a vampire, Kaoru."

Kaoru giggled nervously, "You're joking, right Kenshin? Please tell me that you're pulling my leg."

"I'm not lying to you, Kaoru, I'm a vampire."

"I don't believe you!"

"Then I'll just have to show you."

Kenshin closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment and when he opened his eyes again they were a piercing amber color but Kaoru simply shook her head, "Ok, so you can change the color of your eyes, that doesn't mean that you're..."

Kaoru paused and let out a gasp when Kenshin opened his mouth to reveal his sharp fangs to her. She took a cautious step back as fear began to creep into her stomach, "You... you really are a vampire... all this time you've been lying to me!"

"Kaoru just let me explain..."

"Explain what? That... that you go around sucking the blood out of innocent people!"

"Kaoru, the men I've bitten were all criminals, they were robber, murderers, and rapists, I don't bite innocent people."

"That's not the point! It doesn't matter what they've done, you were attacking them for personal game!"

"That's not the case at all. True, Norihiko and I go way back when it comes to being enemies but I'm not attacking these people because I like it or just to settle a score."

"Then why are you doing it!"

"To stop him before he kills someone else and stop him from hurting you."

"Why does it matter to you if I get hurt or not? All you care about it being evil!"

"Kaoru listen..." Kenshin reached out to grasp her hand but she jerked away from him and started to back up, "Don't run from me, Kaoru, just listen to me."

"No! You just stay away from me!"

"Kaoru... Kaoru wait!"

Kaoru turned and ran as fast as she could, running into her room and shutting the door, but before she could lock it Kenshin grabbed the handle, easily pulling it open again even with her pulling against him, "Get out Kenshin!"

"No, I want you to understand." Kenshin said quietly as he entered the room.

"There's nothing to understand, I don't want to hear anymore!"

Without warning Kenshin lunged forward and grabbed her by the arms, pushing her into the wall and holding her there with his weight as she struggled against him to get away, "Let me go, Kenshin!"

"No, you're going to listen to me, whether you like it or not. I know you don't understand, I don't expect you to but what you do have to understand is that I'm doing this to protect you."

"Like I said why do you care if anything happens to me?"

"Because I truly do care about you, Kaoru, you're the first person I've had feelings for in over a hundred years."

Kaoru's eyes went wide at that comment, "A... hundred years... just how old are you?"

"That's not important, all you need to know about me is that you can trust me."

"How can I trust you, you're a vampire! For all I know you're just trying to gain my trust so you can bite me!"

"Kaoru," Kenshin raised his hand and rested his palm against her cheek, his voice soft and tender, "I would never hurt you, and besides, I don't bite women, I never have. And think about it, if I wanted to bite you I could've done it at anytime, including last night when you were asleep and vulnerable."

Kaoru thought long and hard about what he'd just said, he did have many opportunities to hurt her but he hadn't, but she still couldn't grasp why exactly he had held back, "Why haven't you tried to attack me?"

Kenshin smiled, "Because I care about you, I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to. You mean so much to me, Kaoru, and I would do anything for you and no matter what it takes I will always protect you."

"So... you're not going to wait until I drop my guard and bite me?"

"No, I would never bite you, Kaoru, I promise."

Kaoru nodded and smiled when his thumb stroked her cheekbone softly. She looked up and saw a strange look deep within his golden eyes, one she didn't recognize. She licked her suddenly dry lips, drawing his attention to them for a second before his eyes flickered across her face for several moments, neither of them saying a word as he did so. Then Kenshin started to lean down towards her and Kaoru felt her fear starting to return, unsure of what he was up to, "Ken..."

Kenshin silenced her by placing a finger to her lips before letting his hand trail down to her chin, grasping it gently and tilting her head up as he smiled down at her, "Shh... it's alright, Kaoru."

With that he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, getting a whimper of surprise from her as he did so. At first she tried to push him away, the feeling of kissing someone was so strange to her, but soon the feeling of his warm lips caressing hers took over her senses and she relaxed into him. Kenshin smiled inwardly when she relaxed and he became bolder as his hand left her chin to glide down her neck and across her shoulder and down her arm. After awhile Kaoru finally began to kiss him back and he ran his tongue across her bottom lip, trying to gain access to her mouth. When she didn't respond to his request he pressed his body firmly into hers, getting a gasp out of her when he did so. He took full advantage of that gasp and pushed his tongue past her lips to let it dance across her gently.

After several minutes Kenshin finally pulled away from her, due to the need for air, and kissed his way from her chin to her ear, gently sucking on the lobe before moving down to kiss her pulse, getting Kaoru to gasp softly at the new sensation, "Kenshin... what're you doing?"

"It's alright, just relax."

Kaoru sighed and brought her hands up to clutch at his shirt, her head rolling back with pleasure as he drew some of her skin into his mouth. She felt his hand on her hip for a second before it slid up to her waist, pushing her shirt up as he went. She let out a small gasp of joy when his hand came in contact with the bare skin of her stomach, his hand was rough from using a sword so much and the callouses on his fingers and palm tickled her skin softly as they traveled across her abdomen.

Kenshin pressed himself more firmly into her and let his free hand travel up to her hair, gathering the dark locks in his hand before pulling her head back to gain further access to her throat. Kaoru was immensely enjoying Kenshin's attention to her neck and her body was starting to react in many ways that it hadn't before, but just as she was about to get lost in the sensation she felt something sharp sink into her neck. Her eyes flew open and she let out a cry of pain, immediately trying to push him away when she realized it was his fangs, "Let me go!"

Kenshin was surprised by the sudden outburst, "Kaoru... what's wrong?"

"You lied to me! You were just trying to gain my trust so you could bite me!"

"Kaoru... I didn't bite you."

"Yes you did! I felt your fangs dig into my neck!"

Kenshin looked down and gasped when he saw a thin trail of blood going down her neck and into her shirt, he looked closer and saw two deep punctures near her pulse, undoubtedly caused by his sharp fangs, "Kaoru... I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

She struggled harder against him, "Yes you did!"

"Kaoru please stop... I swear I didn't mean to hurt you... I... I just forgot to retract my fangs."

"I don't believe you, just let me go, please!"

Kenshin's heart dropped into his stomach when he saw tears streaming down her pretty face and he tried to get her attention again, even so, they struggled against each other for several minutes, all the while he tried to calm her down but there was just no consoling the frightened young girl in his arms. Finally he let out a sigh, realizing that he had no other option, "Kaoru, look at me."

"No!"

Kaoru looked down to the ground and pushed against his chest as hard as she could but it was no use, he was just too strong. Kenshin held her fast and reached out to firmly taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look up into his eyes. Kaoru's eyes went wide when his began to glow faintly and she tried to look away but the hand on her chin prevented her from doing so. All of the sudden she felt sleepy and her body was beginning to turn numb, unable to turn away from his intense golden gaze as her eyelids began to grow heavy, "W... what're you... doing... to me..."

Kenshin leaned down and pressed a light but firm kiss to her lips, never breaking eye contact as he whispered a single word, "Sleep."

Kaoru's strength finally gave out and she went limp, falling into Kenshin's waiting arms as his spell took effect. Kenshin bent down and scooped the unconscious girl up into his arms and carried her over to the bed and laid her down. He covered her up and left the room, returning a few minutes later with a wet cloth in his hand. He sat next to her on the edge of the bed as he washed the blood off of her neck and shoulder, guilt filling his normally blank eyes as he gazed down at the young woman before him. He hadn't meant to hurt her, he had been so caught up in pleasing her that he had simply forgot to retract his fangs, but that simple mistake had hurt her badly, both physically and mentally. He had to find some way of making it up to her and gain her trust again, the thought of her being afraid of him was almost too much for him to bare. Once he was finished cleaning the blood off he placed his hand over the wound and healed it, lightly tracing the faint scars left behind on her pale skin. Kaoru stirred slightly at the touch and Kenshin's guilt grew as she tossed and turned under him, her face taking on a look of fear. He moved some hair away from her forehead and leaned down to her, kissing her softly, "I'm sorry..." he whispered.

With that, Kenshin stood up and left the room, anger replacing the guilt, not anger at Kaoru but anger at himself for being stupid enough to forget something so simple! How could he have forgotten to pull his fangs back, and even worse than that, how could he let himself lose so much control that he had bitten her! He sighed, what was done was done and he couldn't change that, he would just have to work hard and make sure that this never happened again, "I'm sorry, Kaoru, I will make this up to you, I promise..."

ANOTHER CHAPTER! More on the way (if I can ever work on a computer that doesn't hate me and delete my files!) Any ways, try not to be mad at me and I'll find a decent computer somewhere and finish this story (eventually... I hope :).