Sentiments of gip-k: -Sorry again for the really slow update… I've been hit both was a large lack of inspiration and an even more extreme lack of time. I will now proceed to type the chapter.
---Chapter 8: The Assassin---
"Send out a search party out for him immediately," Saito was saying firmly to the officers with whom he was speaking. "Everyone leaves some clues to their location, even someone so obviously equipped as he."
A chorus of "yes sir" rippled through the chilly office. A flash of lightning added further illumination to the men's grim faces, and their words were slightly muffled by the sound of rain pouring down the windows. It had started to rain shortly after they had escorted Tokio to the police station, as though the sky had suddenly and ironically become a reflection of her feelings.
"Good," Saito said, a slight smile finding it's way unto his lips in spite of everything. He rather enjoyed being the police chief- encouraging otherwise extremely weak men to do better in this strange new era. He also liked the way they would bow down extremely low to him before they left the room. His men greatly respected him, and he could never have any small amount of respect. Men would gladly die for a man they respected. Of course, fear was also a quite necessary factor- he could not allow or afford any small amount of insubordination among the Tokyo Police Force against him. He needed to be sure he had these men firmly in his hand, especially at moments like this.
The men bowed and then left the room in a neat line. Saito slid down gracefully into his chair. Instead, however, of attending to some of the reports he was typically required to look over and the letters he needed to reply to, he propped his legs up on his desk, boots and all on his feet, and eased back in his chair to think.
Saito still could not possibly understand how the assassin had managed to hide his ki. Of course, anyone who had fought in the Revolution could easily hide his ki from the average Meiji Era participant without even trying, but Saito had formerly been a part of the Shinshen Gumi. Saito's eyes narrowed in that particular fashion. That was a very rare technique, and surely this man was extremely dangerous if Saito could not even expect to notice his presence until the last second. Saito, however, knew this could be put aside for the moment, like an unimportant letter until he had scanned through all of the facts.
Saito continued on to ponder the man's motive. Why was he targeting Tokio? Was he a sour Ishin Patriot of some sort? Saito frowned at this. He had thought that Himura the Battousai was the only Ishin Patriot left that actually still handled a weapon- the rest had chosen to become top military men in the new Meiji Government. This man could likely be an assassin simply desiring a little good money. If he was, Saito wondered exactly who was the real brain behind the attempt. If there is a real brain behind this attempt. Saito thought ruefully to himself. Then he continued on. Even if he were indeed hired, who would be able to recompense such a great fighter enough that he would actually go after the wife of a Wolf of Mibu? Most fighters had much more honor than this, and would only go after someone from the Revolution if they actually had some sort of personal grudge against them. Saito realized that he was going back to square one again. So the question was who was this man, and what did he have against Saito? Tokio herself had no shady past. Saito knew he had very much research to do. He also realized that the very best thing to do also was to wait out another attack. Tokio was heavily protected in this place. Meaning, that even if the man wasn't immediately heard or seen, he would be using a lot of killing ki to get to Saito's wife. Then, Saito would go in to get him.
Saito sighed inwardly, then roved his eyes over to the window. The rain was pouring down hard, as though someone in the heavens was pouring down upon the city with a giant pail. Lightning flashed abruptly and with painful brightness, and was followed immediately by a long, loud rumble of thunder. Saito failed to react. He simply looked out the window. Yes… you will die soon, Assassin. You have dug your own grave. You will regret ever interfering with the affairs of a Wolf of Mibu. You will regret ever trying to kill my wife.
Kaoru Kamiya shuddered and hugged herself tightly at the loud crash and boom of the thunder outside. She shivered convulsively. She hated storms like this- it always made her feel like something was wrong. Also, she did not care much for cold weather, and it was suddenly beginning to feel very cold right now.
Yahiko and Misao were sitting in the corner playing a game of cards.
"You're cheating, I know you are you little brat!" Misao exclaimed suddenly.
"You're just a stupid hag!" Yahiko asked. "Why would I cheat? How low do you think I'd go, huh?"
A heated argument proceeded to ensue between the two, but Kaoru dismissed it in her mind and to her ears it suddenly became a distant din. Her eyes scanned the room for Kenshin, but it became obvious within moments that he was not there. So she rose to her feet, trying to rub her arms to get some warmth into them, and then walked into the kitchen.
Kenshin ended up being right in there, stirring a pot of hot soup.
"Kenshin," Kaoru said, mildly surprised.
Kenshin turned around, and have her a slight half-smile.
"Hello, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin replied. "You looked very cold, so I decided to make you some soup, that I did."
"Thank you very much, Kenshin," Kaoru replied, smiling back at him wanly. She was very cold, indeed. "Is it almost ready?"
"Yes," Kenshin said, turning around to stir it a little more. Then he tasted it, and decided it was all right, and served a bowl for Kaoru and one for himself. Kaoru thanked him again, and they walked back into the room. Misao and Yahiko had finally stopped their arguing, and were sitting down cross legged looking at their cards very seriously.
"Oro!" Kenshin said when he noticed that the fireplace was not lit. He immediately put his soup down on the small table. "No wonder you are so cold, I say." Then Kenshin put some more wood in the fireplace and started up a nice, lively flame.
Kaoru's eyes wandered lazily to the shoji. She only saw the shadow of rain washing down on it, when suddenly she thought she saw a small flicker of movement. Then it was gone. Kaoru, however, was not satisfied, and walked unthinkingly toward the shoji and planned to stick her head out and take a peek.
Suddenly, Kaoru gasped as a sword struck right through the shoji, only a few inches away from her abdomen. She stepped back clumsily, feet frozen solid by the shock. Misao lifted her head and then turned around to see what was going on, whilst Yahiko jumped up from the ground, drawing his shinai. Kenshin let out a large cry for Kaoru to get out of the way, but within seconds, a large round hole had been cut in the shoji, and a man garbed in a now soaking wet pale blue trench coat leaped through. Even Kenshin could hardly react in time. Soon both his swords were drawn, and in seemed only a moment before that Kaoru had been standing with a bowl of soup in front of the shoji, when now she had two swords crossed at her neck. She moved her lips soundlessly, and the bowl dropped from her hand and shattered to pieces on the shiny wooden floor, a puddle of soup spreading out underneath it. She had scarcely even gotten a chance to see his face.
"Kenshin," Kaoru said, her voice coming out weakly.
Kenshin ignored her voice. He was only staring at the man, now, who was holding two katanas dangerously close to Kaoru's neck. His eyes had become narrow slits.
"Let her go, now, I say," Kenshin said. His voice was cold and commanding- void of all emotion and compassion.
The man let out a throaty chuckle.
"That's quite rude," he saw in a low voice that sent a slight shiver up Kaoru's spine. She bit her lip angrily, though. She hated being used like this. She was quite aware that the assassin could kill her at any time, but she did not fear that. She only feared for Kenshin.
"Don't do anything silly, Kenshin," she said firmly. The man brought the sword in his left hand up closer to her neck. Kaoru lifted her chin to avoid the feel of cold steel on her skin. She let out a breath.
"Quiet, girl," he said in a voice that seemed almost conversational. "Speak again and I'll cut you."
"I say again, release her immediately," Kenshin said. He put his hand on his sword hilt.
Kenshin's eyes widened slightly when the man took the sword in his right hand and lifted it, slicing downward with a fluid motion. Kaoru let out a large involuntary scream. Kenshin made no move to stop it, only gripped harder on his sword hilt.
Kaoru's kimono ribbon fell to the ground, cleanly halved.
The unknown assailant then gently pushed the kimono off of her shoulders, leaving Kaoru fully unclothed. Kaoru shivered slightly, now painfully aware of the dank chill of the air that was flowing freely into the room from the hole in the shoji. The man smiled at Kenshin mockingly. Kaoru wanted to spit on him.
"Now there's nothing left to cut but her skin," the man said, sounding highly amused by the whole situation.
Kenshin's before plainly amethyst eyes had turned into glowing amber. Everyone stared, waiting. A harsh wind blew through the room, bringing in extra rain. Kenshin's bangs were ruffled slightly, but he paid no heed.
"Another flicker of that sword in any such motion, and it will cost you your life," Kenshin replied. If his voice was cold, before, now it was a glacier. "Such a stupid, careless thing to do in order to die."
"Kenshin," Kaoru said. She felt hot wetness fill her eyes involuntarily, and a large tear rolled immediately down her cheek. "Kenshin, please don't."
"You're a bastard!" Misao cried out fiercely and angrily.
The man spoke to her in mocking tones.
"Shut up or you'll be next," he said, half-laughing. "Or maybe you would love to be, whore? Don't even think about throwing one of your fancy kunais at me, either, child. I will kill your friend here without taking thought for it, and kill you as well before you can blink."
"And if you do that, you'll have no time to escape before I kill you," Kenshin replied. Kenshin said that sentence as simply and smoothly as he would if he had said he was going to fix dinner. "Enough of your petty useless threats. Tell me now- who are you, and what do you want?"
"Ah, you finally get the gist of the entire thing, Himura Battousai," the assassin replied, chuckling. Kaoru felt his hot breath on her forehead, and cringed. He knows Kenshin's name, too. She thought. "I'm here to give you a warning."
"Speak it now," Kenshin replied impatiently.
"I have a little business here in town," the assassin said. "I would enjoy it very much if you did not interfere with it. I have heard a lot about you, and am quite aware that you fancy yourself to be the savior of Japan. Well, don't try to go about 'saving' anybody right now, Battousai, or someone right here might just end up a little bit dead."
Kenshin did not reply to the man, but only looked at him very, very contemptibly.
"A bit cocky, are we?" the man replied. "Fine, then, I fully understand your unwelcome behavior towards me. I will be leaving, now. I agree to let your woman go, if you agree not to try and kill me on my way out, or interfere with any of my business. Does that sound like a fair deal to you?"
"Fair enough," Kenshin replied coldly.
"I can tell that you are lying, but I will try to let it slide for now," the man replied. "Goodnight, all."
Then the man sheathed one of his swords, than roughly pushed his hand into Kaoru's back. The force sent her stumbling over towards Kenshin, who caught her before she fell. She looked back at the man hatefully.
A moment later, the man slipped back out into the rain, his dirty boots leaving tracks on Kaoru's wooden floor.
Kaoru stared up at Kenshin and he back at her, their eyes unmoving in a painful moment of complete silence. Then, a few moments later, they heard the sound of Misao's scuffling feet as she hurried across the floor with a large blanket to wrap around Kaoru. Kaoru mumbled her thanks to Misao, then wrapped it about herself quite ostentatiously, eyes moving carefully between Yahiko and Kenshin, who were completely silent and staring at her.
"What? You've never seen a naked woman before?" she snapped a bit irritably.
Yahiko said nothing, just looked away, while Kenshin's amber eyes slowly melted to violet, and he spoke up.
"My apologies, Miss Kaoru-" he began.
Kaoru looked at him very seriously.
"Stop apologizing to me, Kenshin," she said firmly. "We had no idea that this was going to happen. And he didn't hurt anything on me, so I think I'm perfectly fine."
Kaoru walked to the center of the room and began pacing. Her face had taken on a very studious and ponderous look.
"I think I don't like that guy at all!" Misao said, speaking for the first time. Her face was red with anger. "He had some nerve to call me a child- a child!" Misao pulled out some kunais. "I'll show him who's going to get killed- I'll do him in nice and slow! Prepare to meet your maker, slinky assassin asshole!"
"Shut up, Misao!" Yahiko snapped. "I think Kaoru's trying to think."
The three people in the room watched Kaoru carefully. She continued to pace, mumbling to herself occasionally. Then, abruptly, Kaoru stopped, and looked at Kenshin.
"I know now-" Kaoru said. "It's definitely not us this guy's after, so there's only one other person- Hajime Saito."
Kenshin's brows shot up in surprise.
"Nani?" he began. "Saito? What would be the motive for this, I say?"
"I don't know," Kaoru said. She tapped her chin, thinking. Then a moment later, her face lit up with understanding, and she snapped her fingers loudly. "When was the last time Tokio was around here? She did not speak to us at all or anything."
"That's right!" Yahiko piped in.
"So," Kenshin began, turning slowly back to peer at the hole in the shoji. "This assassin, whoever he is, is after Tokio Saito, I say."
"Ooh, goody, I guess that's the last of her then!" Misao exclaimed cheerily. Kaoru and Yahiko looked at her incredulously. Misao let out a nervous laugh. "Uh- um- I was just poking fun at you guys. Heh-heh. So… what do you propose we do to kick his assassin-ass?"
Yahiko rolled his eyes skyward.
"We can't just run out and kick his ass, you weasel," he said, sounding exasperated. "You have to know your opponent, first. Anyway, first priority is not going after the guy; it's protecting the targets! We've got to immediately make sure that this guy is not planning anything!"
"Good points, Yahiko," Kaoru said. "I'm impressed. What do you say, Kenshin?"
All eyes roved over to Kenshin, who they realized was standing at the hole in the shoji, examining it carefully, and peering outside. A deep frown was etched into his features, and he seemed thoroughly absorbed in whatever it was he was doing. He also seemed oblivious to the fact that the incoming rain was soaking his gi and hakama. His wet bangs clung to his forehead, and half-concealed his eyes.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru addressed him again. Kenshin appeared not to hear a word.
"I do not understand it," Kenshin thought, his brows furrowed in frustration. "Why could I not sense his ki? He was so close… and how could he have remained so silent seems… impossible. The shoji here aren't giving me any clues to his fighting technique. I do know that he clearly prefers to use katanas rather than traditionally paired konetsus, as the ones Aoshi Shinomori uses…"
"This man is a great danger, I say," Kenshin said aloud. "I have no idea who he is, and cannot find any clues to what kind of kenjitsu or kempo teaching he is utilizing. I should have been quite aware that he was outside the door, but I was as oblivious to that as Miss Kaoru."
He turned to face Kaoru, Yahiko, and Misao. Misao paled a little bit.
"Kenshin, what are you planning on doing?" Kaoru asked. She sounded uneasy.
"I do not know, Miss Kaoru, but I believe that I will start on going down to the Tokyo Police Station immediately and speaking to Saito, that I will," he said firmly.
"And what if the guy comes back?" Yahiko asked, his red-brown eyes flashing.
"It will be up to you to protect Miss Kaoru and Misao, Yahiko, and I believe you are well-suited to the task," Kenshin said, meeting Yahiko's gaze levelly. "We know a little bit of what to expect," then, Kenshin addressed everyone. "Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open and alert. Stay away from the shoji and do not go outside. I shall return as soon as possible, I say."
Then Kenshin turned to leave.
"Kenshin," Kaoru said a little breathlessly. She clutched the blanket around her with a white knuckled hand.
Kenshin turned to look at her. His violet orbs meant her navy blues, and Kenshin immediately saw the urgency and despair played openly across them.
"Be careful," she said.
"I will," Kenshin replied. "Thank you."
Then Kenshin turned, and stepped out through the hole in the shoji out into the pounding rain.
gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: Yar, I finally friggin' update, but you've gotta agree that these past chapters have been nil good… (Frowns) TT Well, I shall keep writing.
Sorry for the lack of special thanks! I'll get on to that next time.