The dormant volcano inside Sanosuke erupted . "AHHHH……!" He bellowed. "FUTAE NO KIWAMI!" His fist shot out and Taku's midriff received the full force of it. He flew backwards, crashed through the thick wall and disappeared from view in a cloud of dust.
"Now, are you going to tell me or not?" Sano asked the remaining Kagura sweetly, cracking a fist in front of him. Kagura gulped and without the slightest hesitation, words began to pour out. "Master told us to dump him in the forest behind the shrine. We left him under some bushes in the heart of the forest." He trembled under Sano's suspicious stare. "It's the truth, I tell you! I swear it!"
"Let's go…..let's go…..let's go!" Misao was almost screeching with impatience as she tried to haul Aoshi through the door. "Hurry up will ya, you slow coaches! If we don't make it fast, it may be too late for Himura! Come on, beat it! QUICK! Yikes!" She stumbled over a rock and fell flat on her face, followed by snorts of laughter.
"That's enough nonsense," Saito flicked the ashes off the tip of his cigarette sharply. "Time to get moving." He led them through various passageways, identifying his route with remarkable ease until they passed out the back door into a gloomy-looking forest. An owl hooted suddenly, making them all jump. And the search began.
Sano poked and pried the shrubbery with a long, pointed stick while Yahiko took pains in stooping to examine every bush. "How do you like to be poked and poked and poked like that, huh?" Yahiko jabbed Sano with a rotten branch. "Quit poking like that, ass-hole, you're gonna hurt Kenshin even more?
"Yeah, while you're gonna take forever sticking your stinky nose under each and every bush. Be careful your ugly face don't scare those rabbits under the bushes to death."
"ARRGGHH……!" WHACK! SMACK! THUMP!
"What idiots," Saito muttered as he continued parting bushes with his katana. "Will you two just shut up? We're here to find Himura, not to listen to you two bickering." Sano was about to yell back a retort, but refrained himself when Kaoru placed a hand on his arm. "Let's just find Kenshin so we can all go home, okay, Sano?" She peered at him with tired and worried eyes.
They moved deeper into the forest. All of a sudden, Aoshi paused and put a finger to his lips, motioning for the others to remain silent. Everyone cocked their heads to one side, listening intently for any sounds that might seem out of place. "I hear voices," Misao whispered. Aoshi nodded wordlessly and started moving forward again, but this time, in complete silence. The company came at last to a small clearing where fragments of the conversation were audible to their ears.
"….pretending, huh? …..take me for? A fool? ……not getting away with this……you and friends….suffer…as I have all these years!"
"You've only got yourself to blame for that, Jin-eh." The second voice was weak and unsteady but there was no doubt about it, it was Kenshin Himura's familiar tone.
"KENSHIN! OH MY GOD….KENSHIN!" Unable to control herself, Kaoru leapt out into full view. Kenshin was standing upright with the aid of his katana and a bloodstained hand clutching his wound. He looked deathly pale and his forehead was creased with suppressed pain. Nevertheless, his eyes widened with surprise at the unexpected sight.
"Miss Kaoru! What are you doing here?" He noticed moving shadows behind Kaoru which soon revealed themselves under the pale moonlight. "So you came after all, Saito," Kenshin smiled gratefully. "For which I am thankful."
Jin-eh stared with dismay at the company and especially at Saito whose katana reflected the moonlight in a wicked gleam. He acted on impulse at once. Quick as lighting, he sprang forward and seized Kenshin by the neck, drawing him further away from the safety of his friends. "Not a step forward, any of you! Or he dies!" Jin-eh snarled and tightened his grip on Kenshin's neck to prove his point. Kenshin remained surprisingly calm, having not uttered a single word, except for the startled grunt when he was first grabbed.
"Let him go, please!" Kaoru pleaded with despair, blinking back the tears stinging her eyes. "Take me instead!" Sano hastened to pull her back and patted her arm reassuringly. "Let me handle this, Jo-chan, you'd better not move too close to him."
Sano raised his voice for all to hear. "You're a coward, Jin-eh! Picking on someone who's badly injured, what a chicken! Come on, fight like a man! I'm challenging you to a one on one duel!" He stepped forward recklessly, carelessly ignoring Jin-eh's words of warning.
A scary, almost insanely light shone in Jin-eh's eyes. "I said, NOT A STEP FORWARD!" He smashed a fist into Kenshin's chest wound and Kenshin doubled over in agony. "That'll teach you for not taking me seriously!" He growled. "And this is for calling me a coward and a chicken!" He applied more pressure on Kenshin's windpipe as Kenshin choked and gasped for air.
"KENSHIN! NOooo…."
"D..Don't worry about me, Miss Kaoru, I….I'll be fine…." Kenshin didn't sound fine at all. "You can't escape, Jin-eh, there's no way you're getting out of this." Jin-eh answered with a hollow laugh. "That's what you say, and I'm gonna prove to you otherwise." He turned his attention back to the group sharply. "I'm going now, and Battousai is coming with me. Let me make this clear to you, NO ONE, and I repeat, NO ONE, is to pursue or follow us, not unless you want Battousai to suffer a painful and tormented death and his remains thrown to dogs," he threatened viciously.
"We understand," It was Aoshi who spoke up.
"Perfect. In that case, I'll take my leave now." And with those words, he bounded off into the shadows, dragging Kenshin with him and a moment later, vanished completely.
"H..Hi..Himura…..b…but…." stammered Misao. Kaoru's legs suddenly gave way and she would have fallen if Sano had not reached out to steady her. Glares and baffled looks were cast at Aoshi. "Have faith in Himura," was all he said. And with that, he turned and strode off home.