Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
Hello all my darling readers. Sorry for not updating any sooner. Had been busy with basketball practice (I support you, my darling 'daughter' Jrz!), and struggling with my German…woah, but here is another chapter, I hope you all enjoy it!
Jrz: You have always been so supportive, not many people review this fanfic anymore…but I'm still going to finish it! I finish whatever I started. Anyways dude..thanks a bunch for ur compliments and I hope u like this chapter dude!
Jupiter's Light: You are really great for staying with this fanfic and always reviewing. I enjoy receiving ur reviews and I hope that u like this chapter!
Kitsune: LOL.yeah…I feel really bad for making Kaoru suffer as well…the stupid baka sure is going to suffer emotionally..hahaha thanks for the review and I hope u like this chapter!
Chapter 17
Kamiya Koishijiro was there, sitting in the darkness, a faint light coming from far behind him. Aoshi could barely make out his features, he could not tell whether he was angry or disappointed…he was just there, silent.
"Aoshi." Koishijiro growled in the dark.
"Yes, sir?" Aoshi replied tonelessly, he was not afraid.
"What is that girl to you?"
"What girl?"
"The small one, the one you've recruited a few months ago. Makimachi Misao. You've been getting very cozy with her these days…had been helping her putting off all the killing work, I heard…"
Aoshi remained silent.
"You know that attachment is not allowed. I understand that your needs as a man, but I have attended to that for all of you. And that girl is someone from your past, I heard. That is not allowed as well. You know the rules. You've never broken any of them before, Aoshi. Don't risk it this time."
"What are you going to do?"
"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to get rid of her."
"Get rid of her, sir?"
"Yes. I can't think of anything else that I can do."
"Please don't."
"What did you say, Aoshi?"
"Don't harm her."
"That is up to you, Aoshi."
"What can I do?"
"Tell her to leave, but also break it off with her. Do it convincingly or she'll never give up."
"That's all, sir?"
"No. I'll remove her memories and your memories after she is gone. In this organization, we can't afford any mistake or any distraction. Remember that Aoshi. Don't disappoint me."
Aoshi nodded and went out of his room.
"Aoshi-sama!" Misao exclaimed. " Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" She reached up and attempted to kiss his cheek. Aoshi pushed her away.
"What's wrong?" Misao asked. They had been together…cuddling and kissing the past few weeks and everything seemed fine.
"Misao."
"Yes?"
"You can't run away from your duties as an Aorta member forever. You cannot put off your duty an assassin."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It has to do with everything. You can't stay here anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"You have to leave Misao."
"How about you?"
"I'm staying."
"So I leave and you stay? Aren't we supposed to be together?"
"We were 'never together'."
"You call cuddling and kissing, 'never together'?"
"Yes."
Pain tore at Misao's heart and she struggled not to let the tears fall. When she finally thought that she had a chance…that he had felt something for her as well…and that they like each other…everything just crumbled into pieces.
"But I love you, Aoshi-sama…" she managed to choke out.
"But I don't love you." Aoshi said coldly.
Misao grabbed him around the waist. "No, you're just lying so that I will leave!"
"This had nothing to do with the Aorta, Misao."
"What? What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing, Misao. I'm tired of you Misao. I've found someone else."
Misao released him in shock and stared up at him, speechless. The pain was stronger now, eating at her heart furiously.
"What? Is she much taller and matured than I am?"
"Yes, she is." Aoshi replied cruelly. "I don't love you, Misao. You're too young…"
" 'You're too young' ! You always say that! But that had not stopped you from kissing me or touching me, did it?"
Aoshi remained silent.
"So you were just playing around all this while?"
"Yes."
Misao laughed. And she laughed louder. The tears did not fall; they were trapped in her eyes. The throat was constricting and she found it hard to breathe, but she laughed and laughed. She did not know what was wrong with her. She just continued laughing, her laughter getting louder and louder. Then, she walked away. Away from Aoshi and away from everything.
The next morning, she was gone. All her things…gone…she left nothing behind. And Aoshi went through the memory remover operation, freeing him of all the pain and guilt. But after the operation, he was fine. He was the same and empty but he did not know why.
The ceiling above her begun to break, and wild wind begun to blew about her. All who were near struggled to hold on to their places so that they wouldn't be blown away. Kaoru's eyes were calm now, a normal blue…icy blue. She was actually smiling, and tears spilling down her face silently. She could not feel the pain, or the sadness. Her heart was cold, unfeeling and numb. She needed to get out of her…or else she would suffocate herself.
She rose up to the floor above her through the hole she had made through the ceiling.
Enishi cried out to her, "Kaoru, don't! Please calm down."
But she did not listen, she couldn't. So on and on she went, bursting through all the ceilings, explosions after explosions. Men rushing about, trying to take her down. But they could not take her down; there was a shield around her. She was unstoppable.
Soujiro peeked out from the door, no one had notice him…yet. They were all running around with weapons, everything was in chaos. No one took notice of him at all. It was the best time for him to sneak out of here. He grabbed the papers to his chest and dashed out. As he passed, he tried his best to avoid the walls and glass crumbling down on him…no one saw him. He was invisible. He was using all his speed and strength to his limits but he needed to get out of here…fast.
Battousai was near the headquarters and from far, he could hear shouts and screams, fires and everyone rushing about. He did not know what had happened, but it must be something terrible.
Suddenly, something blasted out from the top of the tallest building, a blinding light forcing him to shield his eyes. The rounded light flew away from the building and more parts of the building fell apart. Then, he couldn't see the light anymore, it was like as if it had disappeared, vanished in the middle of the air. Kaoru…
He had come back for revenge and for answers, but it seemed that it won't be today.
Enishi fought out of the corner, using all his remaining strength to push away all the concrete burying him. He choked, from all the dust and smoke. He has got to find Kaoru. She would die…
He remembered the test that they had done with her when they first brought her in and was unconscious. Her fragile body could not take all the Ki energy she possessed. She would break under so much pressure. He was afraid that she had reached her limits just now. And he knew that she won't want to live anymore, she wouldn't fight herself to survive. The Battousai had hurt her real bad.
Enishi did not know whether it was good or bad. He will decide that later.
He slowly moved towards a heap of fallen concrete and dug out the drawers from under it. His hands were bleeding but he didn't care. He grabbed a few tapes from the drawers and staggered out.
He could not let the woman he loved to die.
Aoshi awoke from his dreams in a start and it was darkness around him. Misao was not there with him, she must have gone somewhere to get some rest.
So that was what happened. What did had done to Misao, hurt her badly and just walked away.
"No. I'll remove her memories and your memories after she is gone. In this organization, we can't afford any mistake or any distraction. Remember that Aoshi. Don't disappoint me."
Koishijiro had said that. But Misao had remembered. Her sad glances at him, her heartbroken face when he told her that he remembered some parts of his memory. She had remembered. But they were both suppose to forget everything…he needed to ask her about this.
And they needed to talk and sort things out.
He needed to tell her what he really felt for her.
Battousai stopped moving when he sensed someone near him. The person was radiating a weak but familiar Ki energy. Yukishiro Enishi…
He turned around to find Enishi limping, bleeding and dirty. Battousai laughed in his mind. He was going to have fun with this one.
Enishi stopped limping and stared at him, he was not afraid.
"So, escaping from what you've recruited?" Battousai sneered.
"Why do you care, you don't want her anymore anyway…" Enishi said acidly.
"I care because it turned out that something that I thought was mine turned out to be not only mine…she was playing with others and betraying me. And I don't forgive or forget."
"What? Yours? If you want her that much, why don't you just tell her and marry her? Stopped being so obsessed, it's unlike you Battousai." Enishi sneered, angry that Kenshin was getting it all wrong and destroying Kaoru when it was actually all The Aorta's fault. But he was not going to tell him that. He finally had the chance with Kaoru and he was not going to lose it.
Battousai growled. "I wouldn't marry a woman as filthy as her. I don't even want her. She is just a thing. It was all just a game which the both of us played. She just played it the wrong way. But, it was still a very enjoyable dalliance, nevertheless…"
Enishi sighed, he could cry now, hearing Battousai's words. The woman he loved with all his heart had given her love to someone as cruel and heartless as Battousai. Heartless…yes, she was right. Battousai was heartless, cold, cruel and selfish.
"She just played real, that's all…" Enishi whispered. Then, with all his remaining strength, he fled from Battousai, going as fast as his legs could carry him. He couldn't stay…Battousai would kill him but he needed to live…for Kaoru.
Battousai blinked. The stupid bastard had escaped. He could not believe that he had let him. He was just distracted by the conversation…Battousai reminded himself. His defenses were down and he had lost his temper too easily.
He thought about what Enishi had said before he left.
"She just played real, that's all…"
What did that mean?
Battousai felt sick to the stomach all of the sudden when he realized what Enishi might have meant. Shit…
Soujiro, Okina, Sanosuke, Yahiko and Megumi, Hiko were sitting in the sitting room.
Soujiro had told all of them what had happened and everything that was going on the past few weeks that they were ignorant of.
"So Aoshi and Misao are still missing?" Okina asked Soujiro.
"Yes, but I can assure you that he won't harm Misao."
"Hmmm…"
"Kenshin is missing as well." Hiko said.
"I saw him around the The Aorta's headquarters, but he did not go in." Soujiro answered.
"And do you know where is Jou-chan?" Sanosuke asked.
"She had used her powers again. I think something terrible happened between her and Himura-san. She just burst through the building and vanished. We need to find her."
"How bad did she damage The Aorta's headquarters?" Hiko asked.
"Very bad. Everything was burning, the building she was in is basically destroy. The buildings around are broken down as well. The Ki energy she released was very destructive. I wonder how many could survive that." Soujiro answered.
"And you said that Koishijiro was the guy behind this, the head of The Aorta, the man who took all the women's powers…and blamed it on Kenshin?" Okina asked.
"Yes," Soujiro said, taking out the papers showing them what he found out. "Koishijiro was always around the places where the women first lost their powers. Plus, I checked around and found out that he is dealing with some other illegal groups that are against The Aorta. Obviously, he is planning something on his own. We've got to locate Enishi as fast as possible as well. I sense that he knew things that we do not."
Okina and Hiko nodded.
Sanosuke looked distressed.
"What is going to happen to busu? Do you have any idea where she is?" Yahiko asked.
"From what I know about Kaoru…she has very bad asthma attacks and I think her body could not withstand the powers she has. She might die, if she doesn't get any help. And no, I don't know where she is." Soujiro said.
Megumi looked disturbed. "I feel sorry for being so mean to her before…she is suffering so much now."
Sanosuke nodded. "Let's go find her."
"Yes. You, Yahiko and Megumi will look for Kaoru." Okina said. "Hiko, Soujiro and I will deal with Koishijiro. We'll keep in contact."
"How about Kenshin?"
"He is in no danger, he'll show up himself." Hiko said.
The rest nodded.
Kaoru did not know where she was, nor did she care. She was in darkness and to her, it was comforting. Her head was spinning and she liked the feeling, her breathing was low…her heart beat calm. She was lying down for sure.
Her heart and mind was numb, she knew that no one would care for her. She should have known that it would always end up her being alone. She should not believe that one day she was too capable of happiness. Everyone she cared for will always leave her one way or the other. They will always leave. And she will be alone. Alone.
She thought that her heart was breaking again as she went through her thoughts, but hearts don't break the second time. Once it was broken, it will never heal again. She should die now, she have no purpose in this world anymore. She had no one else in the world, to continue living in despair would be a torture. But she would not kill herself, she'll just let herself die…dying very slowly and let herself experience the pain.
Kaoru was delirious by then, she was not conscious of what was going inside her brain, and she did not notice the faint light about her was weakening. Her Ki energy was getting lower and lower…her breathing shallower and shallower. All the trees around her knew that she'll soon be gone. And their leaves fluttered together with the wind, weeping and crying for her.
For Kamiya Kaoru was dying, lying in the murky darkness, her eyes blank and dead.
She closed her eyes.
A/N: Please note that Kaoru is not dead yet. Haha, I'm not that cruel! More will be coming soon. I've ended it here because I thought that the next chapter should be on its own. There will be more 'romance' there…in the next chapter.
Who is the most outstanding character for you guys in this fanfic?
What do you all think about the storyline? Which parts do you guys like?
Who is the male character that you guys like the most here?
Haha, these are just random questions cause I'm curious! Let me know!
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Oh yeah..special shout out to my DARLING 'daughter' JRZ: Yo dude! You go girl! And show off your skills on the basketball court! Good luck to ur match!
