Rain of Blood
Digi*girl: I finished! See yeah I¡¦m proud! ^^; I¡¦m still working on my next chapter y¡¦all! Prepare!! More A+M soon¡K
Disclaimer: RK does not belong to me.
Chapter ten¡Xthe ninja searching for answers
Kaoru waited. Her raven-black hair swayed as she turned her head from left to right. And still no sign of him.
He said he¡¦d be right back! Mou! What¡¦s taking him so long? Kaoru thought with annoyance as she tapped her foot soundlessly on the ground.
Then she heard a burp.
What the-? Kaoru swirled around and heard another burp. A not so good smelling one either. She wrinkled her nose and frowned. A drunken man was staring at her with an intensive look. The man smiled sickingly.
¡§Hey there,¡¨ burp, ¡§Looking for someone?¡¨
Kaoru backed up slowly; the heavy scent of beer engulfed her. This is not good.
The man took a wavy step forward and grabbed her wrist with his sticky palm. Kaoru¡¦s eyes burned in anguish flames.
¡§Watch it you filthy man! Or you¡¦ll get your hands sliced.¡¨ She snapped angrily.
The man blinked and laughed. Kaoru yanked her hands away rubbed them slightly, glaring at him. His laugh ceased abruptly when he wrenched her by the arm and Kaoru winced.
¡§Touchy, are we?¡¨ his stinky breath tickled her face as she tried to move away as far as possible from the dreadful man. She rolled her eyes.
Then a deathly voice behind them brought their attention, ¡§Get away from her, now.¡¨ Kaoru turned to see Kenshin, eyes amber, throwing daggers at the drunken man with his eyes. Her face lit up, ¡§Kenshin!¡¨
The filthy man released his grip on her and pulled out a dagger from his gi, smiling evilly.
¡§What did you say?¡¨ he burped again.
Kaoru looked in disgust.
Kenshin just smirked. He didn¡¦t make a move.
The man strode forward and stopped when he felt the cold metal against his throat dangerously. He gulped. Kenshin¡¦s katana.
¡§If you ever do that again,¡¨ the Battousai said in a low tone, edging closer, ¡§I¡¦ll kill you.¡¨ He whispered the last statement. The man whimpered. Kenshin sheathed his katana with a snap as the man fell onto the ground, shaking in fear.
Kaoru ran up to him, ¡§Next time you really should hurry up. Look what you¡¦ve done, you¡¦ve scared the man half to death!¡¨
Kenshin gave her a look.
Kaoru smiled sourly. ¡§Don¡¦t be too hard on him, ne?¡¨
He kept silent, as usual. Kaoru sighed.
Another day had passed, as they got closer and closer to the destination. It was the end of autumn, winter made its arrival. The air became colder and colder as Kaoru shuddered, blowing a warm foggy breath into the cold.
¡§You cold?¡¨ Kenshin asked while walking beside her, eyes direct.
Kaoru shook her head, defying. Then she felt something warm draped across her shoulders. Kenshin had taken off his coat and gave it to her.
¡§Kenshin! I don¡¦t need it. You¡¦ll be freezing!¡¨ Kaoru exclaimed, while undressing the warm coat.
Kenshin stopped her and their eyes met, ¡§No. You need it.¡¨
Kaoru breathed in and continue to stare at him. Kenshin on the other hand broke their gaze and walked off. With Kaoru catching up.
-----==-----
¡§Okina,¡¨ Misao panted and tried to slow her quick breathing.
¡§I¡¦ve heard.¡¨ The old man looked away into the outlines of the distant mountains faraway.
Misao gulped guiltily, ¡§I¡¦m sorry. It was my entire fault. I was not strong enough to be a leader.¡¨ She bowed her head down in shame.
Okina didn¡¦t say anything.
Birds chirped and winds blew. Everything was so threatening.
¡§There is nothing we can do now,¡¨ Okina said after a while and turned to face her gravely. ¡§We can only wait.¡¨
Misao snapped her head up, her face contorted into panic, ¡§But surely there will be a new way! We can¡¦t just sit here and wait! Our lives would be destroyed!¡¨
¡§Then what do you suppose we do?! Go out there and fight?!¡¨ his voice dripping with anger and bleak. Then he softened, ¡§Think, Misao.¡¨
Misao bit her lip. Okina was right. He¡¦s always right.
The old man sighed wearily and rubbed his temple with his wrinkled hands, shaking his head. ¡§Misao,¡¨
¡§Hai.¡¨ She said absent-mindedly.
¡§I¡¦ve heard that the Hitokiri Battousai had left from Tokyo.¡¨
¡§Nani? The Hitokiri Battousai?¡¨ Misao said in disbelief.
¡§Yes. He will be the main key in this battle, Misao. That¡¦s why we must find him, and bring him to us. We need his help.¡¨
Misao went silence for a moment, her mind twisted in confusion. ¡§You want me to search for him?¡¨
Okina nodded firmly.
¡§I will find him and bring him here, Okina. To repay my failure.¡¨ Misao replied confidently and turned to leave. Leaving the old weary man sitting and closing his eyes.
After she went out of the room, she caught a glimpse of a shadow leaning against the wall. Her mind snapped as she exclaimed, ¡§Aoshi-sama!¡¨
Before she could move, the shadow disappeared in the shadows, leaving Misao, face cast down and stiffened her breathing.
¡§Aoshi-sama¡K¡¨
-----==-----
¡§We are here, Yukishiro-san, we arrived in Tokyo.¡¨
Enishi nodded, but he was not pleased. The Battousai was out of Tokyo, and where he was heading he doesn¡¦t know. He despised the idea.
¡§Let¡¦s go.¡¨ He gestured the other men to move. They had found out where Battousai was living a few days ago, and they would begin from there.
One of his men tore off the opening into Kenshin¡¦s quarters. Enishi was the first to step inside. His cold eyes searched around the dark emptied room. So this is where the famous assassin lived.
He walked over to a small stool and kicked it aside, ¡§Piece of trash,¡¨ he commented harshly.
The other men laughed.
After the laugh ceased, he commanded, ¡§Go and search around the area. If you found anything useful report it back to me.¡¨ The others nodded and headed off in different directions.
He stood alone in the dark room, and walked over to the place where Kenshin usually hung his daishos. He traced a finger along the wood, and frowned. So many dust. How long had he left? And why did he?
He turned towards the opposite of the holding and saw something that caught his eye. Something shiny. He bent down and noticed it was a chain bracelet of some sort, beautiful carvings embedded the silver as he caught his breath. He patted some dust off and turned it over.
His mind froze.
Because the words that were carved deeply into the silvery¡KKamiya¡K
-----==-----
Misao rested on a branch of a tree, and sighed. Kytoto was such a big place, she had asked and searched endlessly for the past few hours for the red-headed.
Where could he be? She thought desperately.
It was the time of dawn, when the sun was about to set. Misao heaved another sigh and rested her head on the palm of her right hand. She stared into the streets, and stared. What am I doing?! She snapped to herself, I mustn¡¦t give up! I have a job to do. She jumped down from the tree swiftly and straightened herself.
But I need a rest¡Kher legs were sore and she felt sleepy. After the battle that she had fought yesterday, she had not yet once closed her eyes. So Misao decided to find a decent place where she could doze off for a second, and then she will return to her search.
Satisfied with her conclusion, she trotted off into another direction.
-----==-----
¡§Kenshin, let¡¦s rest for a bit, ne? I¡¦m tired.¡¨ Kaoru said and stiffened a yawn.
Kenshin agreed and he looked around, his eyes rested on an old memorial nearby. ¡§Let¡¦s go there,¡¨ he held her by the hand gently and led her towards the spot.
Kaoru sighed loudly as she finally lied down on the floor, eyes closing. ¡§Mou¡Kmy legs ache.¡¨ She complained quietly.
¡§You should¡¦ve told me earlier,¡¨ Kenshin remarked and set his katana down on the floor. Staring at her lying figure.
¡§Yeah, I should.¡¨ Kaoru yawned again, as her breathing slowed. ¡§I think¡KI think I¡¦m going to sleep.¡¨ She said sleepily and cracked her eyes open, ¡§Kenshin¡K¡¨ she patted to the empty space next to her. ¡§Come¡K¡¨
Kenshin edged beside her and leaned against the wall, eyes closing. He was tired too. They had been walking for all day. His muscles tensed up as Kaoru draped her arm on his lap. She smiled in her sleep.
Kenshin smiled faintly, also. How much he needed her. Thank kami-sama that she was here with him when they left Tokyo. She gave him so much strength that he¡¦ll ever need. And she showed him the meaning of love.
Kaoru woke with a start, as she heard the loud noise outside. She rose immediately and the first thought that popped into her head was, ¡§Kenshin!¡¨
As if on cue, Kenshin¡¦s hair brushed against her cheek and his arm wrapped around her shoulder, and put his hand over her mouth, eyes staring intently at the exit. ¡§Quiet.¡¨ He hushed her, with his katana at his side.
Kaoru nodded as both their breathing thinned.
A shadow. A small one though, was behind the thin exit.
Kenshin unsheathed his katana and rose, leaving Kaoru sitting there, unsure of what to do. ¡§Kenshin!¡¨ she whispered sternly.
Kenshin didn¡¦t seem to hear her as he advanced closer to the entrance slowly, two hands over his katana now. Kaoru watched with horrid eyes.
Then, in a flash, the exit was opened and Kenshin swept out his katana, the light shadow dug the swing under and jumped behind Kenshin.
WHAM!
Kenshin stared at the three kunais that sank into the wooden pole that he just evaded, and turned his focus back at the intruder. Eyes burning.
But what surprised him and Kaoru was that the intruder turns out to be a young girl, with three more pointy kunais in her hand.
¡§Stop,¡¨ Kaoru ordered.
The young girl turned to face Kaoru, still in alarm.
¡§Who are you?¡¨ she asked dangerously.
¡§I¡¦m Kamiya. Kamiya Kaoru.¡¨ She told her briefly.
¡§Kaoru!¡¨ Kenshin scolded for not being attentive and gripped onto his katana once more.
¡§Kamiya? The Kamiya clan?¡¨ the girl seemed surprised.
¡§Hai. I am.¡¨ Kaoru stared at her cautiously.
¡§I heard the Kamiya kin was burnt down,¡¨ the young girl explained, while eyeing Kenshin with the corner of her eye.
Kaoru smiled sadly and bit her lip, ¡§It was. I¡¦m the last of Kamiya.¡¨
The young girl whirled around to meet Kenshin¡¦s cold stare. Her eyes widened in realization as she noticed the cross scar on his face, and the flaming red hair that was so unusual.
¡§The Hitokiri Battousai¡KI recall, Himura Kenshin?¡¨
Kenshin¡¦s eyes widened as he stepped forward and demanded threatingly, ¡§How do you know my name?¡¨
However the girl showed no fear. She looked up, ¡§I am Misao Makimachi. You must¡¦ve known my grandfather. He was the founder of the Oniwabanshu. Okina.¡¨
Kenshin froze.
¡§Okina-san?¡¨
Misao met his surprised gaze.
¡§Yes. He¡¦d sent me to find you. Please, we need your help.¡¨