Sentiments of gip-k: -Heyo! I'm really sorry for the slow update- I've had a little bit of trouble writing, but my writers' block is all cleared now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ruroken! Isn't that plenty enough for you. Okay?
---Chapter 7: The Impending Danger---
Kaoru poured tea into Kenshin's cup and then into her own before sitting down on the mat in front of their small table. Kenshin left his next cup of tea untouched, large amethyst eyes staring on into endless oblivion. Kaoru sipped hers and watched him a bit warily.
"Kenshin, your tea is getting cold," she stated simply.
Kenshin blinked his eyes a few times, like a man just waking up, then settled his gaze on Kaoru.
"Oro," he said softly. "Then I suppose I should drink it, that I should." Kenshin raised the cup to his lips, then paused, not tipping it to drink. His eyes got that glazed look in them one more, then he placed the tea back down again. Kaoru's brows knitted as she frowned deeply.
"Miss Kaoru, has Miss Tokio returned from town as yet?" Kenshin asked.
Kaoru's eyes widened a bit, and she blinked. Then she spoke.
"No, as a matter of fact she hasn't been around," Kaoru said. But then she calmed down, taking another sip of her tea. "I'm sure it's absolutely nothing- you know she's out with Saito and all, and they're probably really busy. She's probably not going to be staying here for very much longer, anyway."
Kenshin practically fully ignored her question. He rose gracefully to his feet, then walked smoothly over to the shoji with out. He opened them wide, peering out with that same look on his face. He put his hand on his sakabato and held it firmly. A rush of strong wind blew the doors, carrying in a few stray leaves and rustling Kenshin's red bangs. Kenshin frowned slightly.
Kaoru rose from her place on the ground almost as soon as Kenshin began to pull the shoji, and walked over to stand by his right shoulder. She felt slightly apprehensive at Kenshin's sudden change in mood.
"Kenshin, what's wrong?" she asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice.
"Something's wrong," Kenshin asked, totally oblivious to the fact that his hair was now whipping across his face.
Kaoru put a hand on his shoulder. His tension eased only slightly, and so she added a little pressure.
"I'm sure they'll be all right, Kenshin," she said, trying to sound positive. She looked outside. All she saw were the trees around the dojo, and the birds flying to their nests, carrying sunset on their wings. The sky was an array of orange, purples, and warm pinks. At the top of the sky was the last touch of azure. The colors played across Kenshin's face in an eerie manner.
Kenshin did not react to her hand on his shoulder as he usually did. Either he acknowledged it with a shy or affectionate smile, or jumped because she had startled him. Now he did neither. He simply remained extremely still.
"It's not only their safety I worry about, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin replied quietly. "There is an evil presence in this city. I worry about all of the inhabitants of Tokyo, the inhabitants of this dojo, and-" he turned to Kaoru, and intensity in his gaze. She removed her hand from his shoulder, but he took it again in both of his hands and stroked it. Kaoru found it hard to turn away from his eyes. "-I am worried most of all about your safety, Miss Kaoru. You must be very careful now."
"I will, Kenshin," Kaoru replied. She suddenly felt like kissing him, then she tore her eyes away. She gently removed her hand from both of his. "I have to go clean up the dishes."
"My pardons, but isn't that my job around here?" Kenshin replied slightly teasingly.
Kaoru felt warmth spreading through her cheeks. She quickly concealed it under a façade of anger that she blending precisely with her real frustration. She rose up to her full height and shouted in his face, forcing him to cringe back.
"It's not like I can't wash a few dishes!" she yelled. "Are you trying to say I'm too weak or lazy?"
"Oro!" Kenshin cried, raising his hands as if to protect himself from a blow. "This unworthy one didn't mean anything of the sort, Miss Kaoru!"
"Don't think you can get away with the whole unworthy bit!" Kaoru shouted at him louder. "Shut up and go make yourself useful for once!"
That was lame, and Kaoru knew it, but to make it look more realistic, she turned on her heels, collected up the tray and stormed up into the kitchen without another word.
Kenshin was standing there, wondering whether she was PMS-ing… but he pushed the thought out of his mind and turned back to the shoji. He gazed out one more time before finally pulling them shut. He would not allow any harm to come to his Kaoru…
Tokio Saito sat impatiently in her hospital room, waiting for Hajime to show up. She tapped her fingers on the unnaturally hard futon, waiting. They had rushed her off to this place in the wake of the attack- the wound had looked much worst than it really was. Tokio fingered the bandages around her neck idly.
Suddenly, the door burst open, admitting none other than Hajime Saito. Tokio arose almost immediately to her feet, and put on her most serious face. Saito looked grim, but behind that expression, he looked most of all disturbed.
"Now if you're thinking about shipping me back home without telling what in the bloody hell is going on, I'll have you know I'm not going anywhere-"
"I wasn't going to send you back," Hajime said, his voice hard and cold. He closed the door- it did not even slam- and then walked closer to her. "It's far too dangerous. Were I to send you back, you'd just be like a fish caught in a net, or a bird with no wings- you would be extremely vulnerable."
Tokio looked up at Saito and studied his eyes very carefully. He looked back down at her, the seriousness in his expression not fading in the least.
"You really don't know what to do, do you?" Tokio said softly. Her liquid green eyes seemed to transform and stretch to take in all of his feelings, while at the same time digging into the pit of his soul, pondering out each secret. Saito ignored her words.
"You are the assassin's target," Saito said in a tone that seemed to make him seem a distant yet close person- like a bodyguard instead of a husband. "That means you must be protected at all costs."
Saito unsheathed his sword, looked at it, and then sheathed it again. Tokio watched this motion carefully.
"Husband-"
"Say nothing," Saito said, glaring at her with an icy intensity. His eyes said that he would take no resistance. "You are going to come with me immediately away from this hospital station. Your residence is no longer in the Kamiya Dojo, it is in the Tokyo police station."
Tokio did not speak. She looked at him gravely.
"Do you mind telling me how long I might have to stay there?" Tokio asked stiffly.
"You will be staying there until the danger is eliminated," Saito said. His eyes darkened. "Or until the assassin has, ironically, been assassinated."
"You must be careful, Hajime," Tokio said. "He only wants me to get to you."
"I am aware of that," Saito said as though it mattered not at all.
"That means he's trying to use me as bait- it's really you he wants, Hajime Saito," Tokio said firmly. Her gaze on him intensified. "You must not give him what he wants, Saito."
"He wants to kill you, for whatever reason, and that I will not allow," Saito replied. "A police escort is waiting for you outside, Tokio. They will take you to safety."
"And where will you be?"
"I will be in the front of it," Saito replied simply. "Come."
Tokio obeyed his command. Saito opened the door for her, and they walked outside together.
Dark had fallen on the city of Tokyo like crows upon a carcass. It was pitch black, apart from the few torches carried by some of the officers and the dim light leaking through homes and buildings through the thin paper shoji.
The police escort was massive. It had been a while since Tokio had seen so many people gathered together in one place. The moment she and Saito came out of the door, several men took to the rear and sides of her, acting as human shields. They were armed with guns- rifles with the bayonets attached. The rest of the men stood a bit far off, and were armed with traditional Japanese katanas.
The other man had regular rifles and stood at the front of the formation. Saito had somehow disappeared from Tokio's side and made his way towards the front of the escort. Tokio tried to stand on her tippie toes a little bit to see him, but of course she was the shortest person amongst them all, and could not see again. At least this means I definitely won't get shot through the head with a dart… Tokio thought dryly then settled back down again.
"Move on!" boomed Saito's strong voice.
The men immediately began moving. The men closest to Tokio linked arms with her and guided her along. They tried to make a little conversation with her as they walked, but mostly nonsense talk about how she did not have to be frightened, they would take care of her, the men were willing to die for her, and all such things. Tokio was certain that the men Saito had picked to protect her were the very best, but to her ears, they were full of pride, and also full of a lot of bull- whether it was true or not was irrelevant to her.
When they finally reached the police station, Tokio had become extremely irritable. She was not at all thrilled about the thought of some hard-to-detect guy throwing a dart into her brain, but nor was she thrilled at the prospect of staying locked up in a police station for however long it took to track that same individual down. So it left her in short words- upset.
Tokio was ushered quickly in the police station. She glanced behind her, eyes frantically searching the darkness for any sign of her husband, but saw none. She felt a tug on her sleeve and a few words she did not listen to, and half-heartedly followed the solider that was pulling her into the station. She soon found herself in a tiny room that had been turned into a terrible mistake by a failed attempt by some unmarried soldier who had probably tried to make it look feminine. Tokio hated all of the lace, wasted silk, bright colors, and elaborate futon. She sat down on the futon, still out of it all, feeling very out of place and equally closed in.
Come back to me, Saito…
She then lay down and closed her eyes, but not to sleep. That was going to be a challenge.
gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -Yes, nothing is really happening in this chapter- I'm just setting the stage, here, okay! I positively hate this fanfiction, even though you Tokio fans seem to like. I hate it! I might actually stop writing it. Okay, I wont. Insert a large sigh. Okay, this is not my journal here I will stop complaining. My special thanks will come in the next chapter. Gah… I am so damn frustrated! I definitely need some help on building on the unknown assassin's character… I just can't see where he's going right now at all. It's just so painful for me when I don't know where a story should go. This is the only story I began writing without having things all planned out in my mind- this idea did not come in a full package, people. It's been kinda like writing in the dark. I don't have a major event planned. I had the idea of how the confrontation between Saito and the assassin would go, but I guess I had a memory lapse (probably a result of some of my stress) of some kind and lost it. It's really tough. I usually can control my story better than this. I guess we'll see how it goes.