A/N @_@ by golly can you believe that I updated so soon?!?!? Hehe well I
had some of this chapter already completed so it was not that hard to
finish. Plus I had been going over this chapter for some time and I was
able to type it up in a flash ^_^. Well enough of me I'm sure you want me
to get right to the story..
Disclaimer: yadda yadda and so on...
Devotion
By
Melissa ^_^x
When Toshiki stepped into the building he didn't know what to expect to see. But nothing could have prepared him for the sight that he saw by the lantern light that he held. Tanako had fallen asleep, her head fell forward and her braid snaked down across her shoulders to rest on the ground. She was in a deep blue Kimono and the dancing lantern light made it look like the patterns of water were really flowing around her.
He had never seen her in a kimono, and true it was ripped from hip to hem, exposing one pale slim leg that was scratched from her long journey. Her hair was wild and locks were escaping her braid to hang in all directions. She was wounded, covered in dirt... and she looked every bit as beautiful as he knew she was. He was forced to take a step back as Muko stepped forward with a washing bucket full of cold water right from the well. Toshiki was about to protest but before he could the man tossed the bucket of cold water on the sleeping girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tanako snapped awake with a gasp as the first drops of cold water touched her skin. Her gasp caused her to cough on the water; this further woke her from the sleep that had taken her away from her worries. When the coughing subsided she kept her head down and allowed the water to drip from her wild hair... now tangled and plastered to her face.
"Tanto."
Tanako jerked up at the sound of the commanding voice that she knew all to well and with water still running in her eyes she could make out some of the band of gang members and standing in front of them holding a lantern was Toshiki. Shock was the only thing that kept her from crying out. She had wanted to see him so badly but not like this. She wanted to be on her feet, not kneeling on the ground with her hands tied behind her and dirty with wild hair and now dripping wet clothes.
She blinked up at Toshiki, to embarrassed to say anything; not knowing what she should do or say she lowered her head again and looked at the water as it dripped down between the small gaps in the floor boards...They were built that way for just this reason... that and to drain blood away.
"Tanto speak to me." Toshiki demanded, his voice daring her to defy him.
Tanako took a deep calming breath and cleared her throat. "Good evening Toshiki-san... how are you?
Toshiki heaved a silent sigh of relief, she was well enough to talk. He never thought that his name would sound so wonderful... even with the san behind it. He turned to the half dozen other men in the room and glared at them. "Put what you brought here down and leave me." The soul piercing eyes and the power in his voice commanded them to do as he said... the hesitated however. But then shrugged... they knew that the two had been friends as children... they thought nothing if Toshiki wanted to spend some time alone with he best friend... even if she was to be killed in time.
The food, water, and medical supplies were placed on the small bench along the wall and they bowed to the higher in command and left the building. Toshiki followed them to make sure that they were truly left alone before he slid the wooden door shut. Turning, he felt a pain come over him at the sight of his childhood friend tied to the pole. She had always been strong in everything she did, but looking at her now, she looked frail and very breakable. Her soul had been tortured and her spirit was broken.
He set the lantern down on the floor next to him and he kneeled down in front of her. He kept his eyes on her and she continued to stare at the ground. She refused to look up at him and it bugged the Hell out of him, but he would not risk harming her frail mind but commanding her to look at him. No doubt she thought she was to die within the hour.
Tanako could feel his ice blue eye on her, she wanted to look up at him but felt to ashamed of herself to do so. She started to shiver from the wet kimono sticking to her body, but she shivered more from forcing herself to keep her eyes to the ground.
Her head swam with thoughts as she kneeled there, so much so she could almost hear them flowing around in her mind. The noise grew louder and louder until she couldn't take it anymore and she felt herself lift her head to look at the man she would always care for. The second she was facing him the white noise stopped and she let her eyes open to take him in.
However, as soon as her eyes caught his gaze he moved. He moved so fast that she couldn't follow him. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned in for the warmest embrace she had ever felt. She heard him mumbling curses as he untied her hands from the post and he brought her closer to him. Her arms where still numb from being behind her back for so long that she could hardly feel them enough to return the embrace, so she just let him hold her. She felt the coldness that had seeped into her body melt away as Toshiki warmed her with his own body.
Tanako's mind went blank and she let her tears fall. Toshiki soothed her with soft words of comfort, rocking very gently. After a moment the feeling started to return to Tanako's arms and it felt as though thousands of tiny hot glowing embers where crawling under her skin. Every time she moved the strange and slightly painful feeling would increase ten fold.
Toshiki pulled away to take a look at the young woman who had haunted his dreams after he let her run away. He had not heard her hiss in pain nor wince from any movement. "Tanako... are you alright?" he asked, his normal powerful voice was lost in the emotion he was feeling. The fear, the relief, and the love he had for her; it was all in his voice and he could do nothing to hide it from her.
"Yes Toshiki, I'm fine,...a few bumps and bruises but nothing really bad." Tanako replayed with a small grin. She noticed that he was out of uniform, he was most likely still taking it easy after the wound he had received. At the moment he was wearing a pale blue gi, the color made his eyes seem ever brighter than before and the soft color melded into the soft dancing shadows in the room.
Toshiki took the lantern and moved to take a look at her right leg. It had been cut and scratched from being exposed when she cut her kimono. His eyes darted up to hers and he grinned.
"Did you do this yourself?" he asked, indicating to the slit in the kimono.
Tanako started to rub her arms as the painful feeling was leaving. "Yes... I had to fight back...it's not so easy to fight in one of these." She smiled a little and looked away. Toshiki broke into a wide grin at the rare display of embarrassment.
"You never where much of a girl, but I never thought you would stoop to ruin a lovely garment." The comment earned him a sharp slap in the arm, harmless only because her arms were still too weak to cause much damage. "Hey!, do you want me to help you or not?"
"Fine!" Tanako shouted, crossing her arms and sitting back against the wooden post. "Just keep your mean comments to yourself Toshiki-san." Toshiki nodded, struggling to keep his laughter from breaking out and he reached for the pack of medical supplies, and the smaller bowl of water that had been left behind.
"I can do that myself I'm not a-" Tanako started but was cut off when the older man hushed her by placing a finger to her lips. Looking up she saw that his eyes where glued to here his finger rested.
"I know you can Tanako-san, but allow me to take care of you... just like I use to." He said in a whisper as he dropped his hand and went back to the bowl of water, taking out a small wash clothe and dabbing away the dirt that covered her leg. Tanako sat as still as a statue as Toshiki did his work; after a spot was cleaned he took care of any deep cuts and scratches, before moving to clean another area.
When he was half done he sat back and took a look at his work, scolding himself when his eyes wandered too long on her exposed legs and he turned away to hide the faint blush from her. To get his mind off what visions were dancing in his head he reached for the serving tray and set it in front of her. A simple dish of rice and beef sat on it.
"Eat, I know you haven't had a thing in days." He said a little more harshly then he intended, as he handed her the chopsticks before getting to his feet. Tanako was startled by his sudden shift of mood and even more confused when he paced around the small room for a moment before sliding open the wooden door and stepping outside and shutting the door firmly behind him.
In the old days, Tanako would have followed him and demanded to know what was his problem. But she felt it would be a good idea if she let him have his space and besides her hunger took over and she devoured the food that he had set done in front of her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toshiki set the lock on the door, to keep Tanako from escaping, it was that or tie her back up again and he would rather not do that to her again. As soon as the lock was in place he whirled around and stalked off across the village to his own place. He needed time to think, he had to clear his head.
When he reached his home he went straight to his room and threw open the screen and slammed it shut behind him. He was angry at himself for letting his mind wander too far. True it was not the first time he had caught himself staring like a raging teen but this was different. ' For gods sake, she could be killed at any time!' Blue eyes flashing he swept a hand across the shelf that was next to him, sending all of his possessions to the ground. He braced himself against the empty shelf and struggled to control his temper.
He looked up and raked a hand though his hair to get it out of his face and he looked around for anything to get his mind off his tormented thoughts. He could still feel his hands burning, he had been struggling the whole time to keep his hands from trembling when he was cleaning her up. His thoughts had run unbridled when he hushed her. It took all his will power to rip his eyes from her lips.
He growled when he realized that he was repeating the visions in his mind. He kneeled down and began to retrieve the possessions from the ground. His hand paused over his hair comb. Tanako had given it to him years back, it was simple, not fancy like a woman's comb; decorated only with a single symbol. He picked up the bone white comb and held it in his hand as if he was looking at it for the first time. The symbol was the one for friendship, Toshiki traced the small engraved symbol, knowing that it was fruitless to continue to hide his feelings from her any longer. He had let some of his feeling escape when he ordered her to run away, but not all of them. He wanted Tanako, he wanted to keep her by his side forever and ever. But he had a duty to his gang and it was unfair of him to ask her to stay by his side and remain here... especially now that she had tasted the outside world.
He had been thinking about ways of keeping Tanako alive; she had yet to be questioned by Sasorie so she still had a chance that he would let her off and live. However, Tanako was not about to risk that. He knew that the search party had told that she begged them to let her live the rest of her life with her new family. She had run away from the gang and that meant certain death.
Toshiki griped the comb tightly in his hand. The bone teeth biting into his palm. If it meant losing his very life, he would find a way to keep Tanako alive and well; even if it meant betraying his own gang and conversing with a Master Assassin.
**************************************************
A/N Ah that was a nice medium sized chapter. ^_^ ... and look at what's happening were starting to get Toshiki's point of view. I wasn't sure if I wanted to show him as much as Tanako and such, but I thought that the story would not be as deep without him giving his two cents.
Now Toshiki is thinking about contacting Kenshin. * nods and thinks*... I wonder how that would go over. And the STILL don't know what Sasorie is up to and we STILL haven't seen the Kenshin group set a foot out to help Tanako...-_-.... What's going on at the dojo?!?!....* sigh*... well please leave many reviews ^_^... and throw your two cents in...I love to hear them...
* peeks back in*... and I started the next chapter too so I don't think you will have to wait that long... just long enough for me to read some reviews and work in some ideas.. ^_^... bye!
Disclaimer: yadda yadda and so on...
Devotion
By
Melissa ^_^x
When Toshiki stepped into the building he didn't know what to expect to see. But nothing could have prepared him for the sight that he saw by the lantern light that he held. Tanako had fallen asleep, her head fell forward and her braid snaked down across her shoulders to rest on the ground. She was in a deep blue Kimono and the dancing lantern light made it look like the patterns of water were really flowing around her.
He had never seen her in a kimono, and true it was ripped from hip to hem, exposing one pale slim leg that was scratched from her long journey. Her hair was wild and locks were escaping her braid to hang in all directions. She was wounded, covered in dirt... and she looked every bit as beautiful as he knew she was. He was forced to take a step back as Muko stepped forward with a washing bucket full of cold water right from the well. Toshiki was about to protest but before he could the man tossed the bucket of cold water on the sleeping girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tanako snapped awake with a gasp as the first drops of cold water touched her skin. Her gasp caused her to cough on the water; this further woke her from the sleep that had taken her away from her worries. When the coughing subsided she kept her head down and allowed the water to drip from her wild hair... now tangled and plastered to her face.
"Tanto."
Tanako jerked up at the sound of the commanding voice that she knew all to well and with water still running in her eyes she could make out some of the band of gang members and standing in front of them holding a lantern was Toshiki. Shock was the only thing that kept her from crying out. She had wanted to see him so badly but not like this. She wanted to be on her feet, not kneeling on the ground with her hands tied behind her and dirty with wild hair and now dripping wet clothes.
She blinked up at Toshiki, to embarrassed to say anything; not knowing what she should do or say she lowered her head again and looked at the water as it dripped down between the small gaps in the floor boards...They were built that way for just this reason... that and to drain blood away.
"Tanto speak to me." Toshiki demanded, his voice daring her to defy him.
Tanako took a deep calming breath and cleared her throat. "Good evening Toshiki-san... how are you?
Toshiki heaved a silent sigh of relief, she was well enough to talk. He never thought that his name would sound so wonderful... even with the san behind it. He turned to the half dozen other men in the room and glared at them. "Put what you brought here down and leave me." The soul piercing eyes and the power in his voice commanded them to do as he said... the hesitated however. But then shrugged... they knew that the two had been friends as children... they thought nothing if Toshiki wanted to spend some time alone with he best friend... even if she was to be killed in time.
The food, water, and medical supplies were placed on the small bench along the wall and they bowed to the higher in command and left the building. Toshiki followed them to make sure that they were truly left alone before he slid the wooden door shut. Turning, he felt a pain come over him at the sight of his childhood friend tied to the pole. She had always been strong in everything she did, but looking at her now, she looked frail and very breakable. Her soul had been tortured and her spirit was broken.
He set the lantern down on the floor next to him and he kneeled down in front of her. He kept his eyes on her and she continued to stare at the ground. She refused to look up at him and it bugged the Hell out of him, but he would not risk harming her frail mind but commanding her to look at him. No doubt she thought she was to die within the hour.
Tanako could feel his ice blue eye on her, she wanted to look up at him but felt to ashamed of herself to do so. She started to shiver from the wet kimono sticking to her body, but she shivered more from forcing herself to keep her eyes to the ground.
Her head swam with thoughts as she kneeled there, so much so she could almost hear them flowing around in her mind. The noise grew louder and louder until she couldn't take it anymore and she felt herself lift her head to look at the man she would always care for. The second she was facing him the white noise stopped and she let her eyes open to take him in.
However, as soon as her eyes caught his gaze he moved. He moved so fast that she couldn't follow him. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned in for the warmest embrace she had ever felt. She heard him mumbling curses as he untied her hands from the post and he brought her closer to him. Her arms where still numb from being behind her back for so long that she could hardly feel them enough to return the embrace, so she just let him hold her. She felt the coldness that had seeped into her body melt away as Toshiki warmed her with his own body.
Tanako's mind went blank and she let her tears fall. Toshiki soothed her with soft words of comfort, rocking very gently. After a moment the feeling started to return to Tanako's arms and it felt as though thousands of tiny hot glowing embers where crawling under her skin. Every time she moved the strange and slightly painful feeling would increase ten fold.
Toshiki pulled away to take a look at the young woman who had haunted his dreams after he let her run away. He had not heard her hiss in pain nor wince from any movement. "Tanako... are you alright?" he asked, his normal powerful voice was lost in the emotion he was feeling. The fear, the relief, and the love he had for her; it was all in his voice and he could do nothing to hide it from her.
"Yes Toshiki, I'm fine,...a few bumps and bruises but nothing really bad." Tanako replayed with a small grin. She noticed that he was out of uniform, he was most likely still taking it easy after the wound he had received. At the moment he was wearing a pale blue gi, the color made his eyes seem ever brighter than before and the soft color melded into the soft dancing shadows in the room.
Toshiki took the lantern and moved to take a look at her right leg. It had been cut and scratched from being exposed when she cut her kimono. His eyes darted up to hers and he grinned.
"Did you do this yourself?" he asked, indicating to the slit in the kimono.
Tanako started to rub her arms as the painful feeling was leaving. "Yes... I had to fight back...it's not so easy to fight in one of these." She smiled a little and looked away. Toshiki broke into a wide grin at the rare display of embarrassment.
"You never where much of a girl, but I never thought you would stoop to ruin a lovely garment." The comment earned him a sharp slap in the arm, harmless only because her arms were still too weak to cause much damage. "Hey!, do you want me to help you or not?"
"Fine!" Tanako shouted, crossing her arms and sitting back against the wooden post. "Just keep your mean comments to yourself Toshiki-san." Toshiki nodded, struggling to keep his laughter from breaking out and he reached for the pack of medical supplies, and the smaller bowl of water that had been left behind.
"I can do that myself I'm not a-" Tanako started but was cut off when the older man hushed her by placing a finger to her lips. Looking up she saw that his eyes where glued to here his finger rested.
"I know you can Tanako-san, but allow me to take care of you... just like I use to." He said in a whisper as he dropped his hand and went back to the bowl of water, taking out a small wash clothe and dabbing away the dirt that covered her leg. Tanako sat as still as a statue as Toshiki did his work; after a spot was cleaned he took care of any deep cuts and scratches, before moving to clean another area.
When he was half done he sat back and took a look at his work, scolding himself when his eyes wandered too long on her exposed legs and he turned away to hide the faint blush from her. To get his mind off what visions were dancing in his head he reached for the serving tray and set it in front of her. A simple dish of rice and beef sat on it.
"Eat, I know you haven't had a thing in days." He said a little more harshly then he intended, as he handed her the chopsticks before getting to his feet. Tanako was startled by his sudden shift of mood and even more confused when he paced around the small room for a moment before sliding open the wooden door and stepping outside and shutting the door firmly behind him.
In the old days, Tanako would have followed him and demanded to know what was his problem. But she felt it would be a good idea if she let him have his space and besides her hunger took over and she devoured the food that he had set done in front of her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toshiki set the lock on the door, to keep Tanako from escaping, it was that or tie her back up again and he would rather not do that to her again. As soon as the lock was in place he whirled around and stalked off across the village to his own place. He needed time to think, he had to clear his head.
When he reached his home he went straight to his room and threw open the screen and slammed it shut behind him. He was angry at himself for letting his mind wander too far. True it was not the first time he had caught himself staring like a raging teen but this was different. ' For gods sake, she could be killed at any time!' Blue eyes flashing he swept a hand across the shelf that was next to him, sending all of his possessions to the ground. He braced himself against the empty shelf and struggled to control his temper.
He looked up and raked a hand though his hair to get it out of his face and he looked around for anything to get his mind off his tormented thoughts. He could still feel his hands burning, he had been struggling the whole time to keep his hands from trembling when he was cleaning her up. His thoughts had run unbridled when he hushed her. It took all his will power to rip his eyes from her lips.
He growled when he realized that he was repeating the visions in his mind. He kneeled down and began to retrieve the possessions from the ground. His hand paused over his hair comb. Tanako had given it to him years back, it was simple, not fancy like a woman's comb; decorated only with a single symbol. He picked up the bone white comb and held it in his hand as if he was looking at it for the first time. The symbol was the one for friendship, Toshiki traced the small engraved symbol, knowing that it was fruitless to continue to hide his feelings from her any longer. He had let some of his feeling escape when he ordered her to run away, but not all of them. He wanted Tanako, he wanted to keep her by his side forever and ever. But he had a duty to his gang and it was unfair of him to ask her to stay by his side and remain here... especially now that she had tasted the outside world.
He had been thinking about ways of keeping Tanako alive; she had yet to be questioned by Sasorie so she still had a chance that he would let her off and live. However, Tanako was not about to risk that. He knew that the search party had told that she begged them to let her live the rest of her life with her new family. She had run away from the gang and that meant certain death.
Toshiki griped the comb tightly in his hand. The bone teeth biting into his palm. If it meant losing his very life, he would find a way to keep Tanako alive and well; even if it meant betraying his own gang and conversing with a Master Assassin.
**************************************************
A/N Ah that was a nice medium sized chapter. ^_^ ... and look at what's happening were starting to get Toshiki's point of view. I wasn't sure if I wanted to show him as much as Tanako and such, but I thought that the story would not be as deep without him giving his two cents.
Now Toshiki is thinking about contacting Kenshin. * nods and thinks*... I wonder how that would go over. And the STILL don't know what Sasorie is up to and we STILL haven't seen the Kenshin group set a foot out to help Tanako...-_-.... What's going on at the dojo?!?!....* sigh*... well please leave many reviews ^_^... and throw your two cents in...I love to hear them...
* peeks back in*... and I started the next chapter too so I don't think you will have to wait that long... just long enough for me to read some reviews and work in some ideas.. ^_^... bye!