A/N: Hey guys. I'm sorry I've taken so long. I can't say much more, I just wanna write. Kinda down for no real reason. This guy online just won't leave me alone…blocked him and everythin'
Anyway, I hope you forgive me for taking just so stinkin' long.
Chapter 6 – Well Water
Blood was everywhere…it polished the floor in a crimson coating that reflected the light of the moon, though no moon shown in the non-existing sky. Many bodies lay motionless, muddled all together in a heap. Her sapphire eyes mirrored the horrific sight before her as the palm of her father pooled with the blood, empty handed. The ghost of a flower for her turned into invisible ashes in the creasing of his hand.
She was unable to move, to cry, to scream. The terror that filled her veins in seeing the soulless bodies and her father seemed to vanquish all hope and reasonable ability to calm her nerves. She whipped her gaze in every direction of the shadows in hopes to spot the one who carried the murders on his soul.
She tried to take a step forward, but the ground of liquid red prevented her from doing so. So many bodies were littered before her, she couldn't move; lest she step on the remains of what a soul might have left behind.
She rubbed her arms in some attempt to ward off the cold that seemed to hover over her skin. The chill of the dead were embracing her and whispering the song of the lonesome into her ear with their icy breath.
'You're next, you're next..' The song seemed to chant.
'He did it to us, he'll do it to you… If you turn your back, we'll guide you through…
This bloodied path you'll love, you'll hate…with the help from our embrace…
Do onto him what he's done to us…we, the result of his blood lust…
Kill him…kill him…kill him, you must….'
The song wracked her nerves and slithered its way to her heart, but suddenly vanished as the piercing protest out of the silence drove it away.
'No! Stop!'
Kaoru opened her clenched eyes and looked around. She was unsure if she was the source of her own voice…or perhaps she were imagining things. Silence was the only answer to her mental brooding that seemed to echo off the walls of her mind.
Her sapphire eyes scanned the area for the voices, horrified by what she found. She gazed with dread coursing her veins. Three small bodies dragged what was left of themselves over to Kaoru's dead-still form. Once they reached her, they slowly pulled themselves up to face her. Three, young looking women. Tears streaked down their faces as they pleaded with her and griped at the thin, small white robe Kaoru wore. 'Save him…please…' one pleaded with her. 'He's not what you think!' another one cried' Don't leave him a lone…' the third one whimpered out, shaking her head.
'Save him….'
'Save him…!'
'Saavvee hiiimm!'
They cried and pleaded as Kaoru's breathing started to increase and turn into pants. She shifted her eyes rapidly from one to the other, trying to figure out exactly what they meant.
"Save who?. Who are you talking about! Who!"
"Me."
In a flash, the three women turned into a mixture of ashes and smoke while Kaoru gasped and swiftly whipped her body around to face the owner of the voice and saw-
Kaoru screamed and shot upward quickly in her futon. She gasped and clutched at the pale cream sheets desperately, heaving violently. She closed her eyes as she wheezed and tried to calm her nerves. Her anxiety level was way beyond normal as she tried to shake off the feeling of those clammy hands streaking down her skin.
-amber eyes…
The burned image of molten gold eyes was branded in her memory. She had turned around to come face to face with the murderer she was so desperately begged to save. His eyes scorched her own as they glowed in the darkness like an angel's wings during the dead of night.Kaoru closed her eyes and tried to erase the frightening memory. She took a deep breath once more and slowly kicked off the covers of her futon sheets, bringing herself into a standing position on her still slumbering legs. She barely managed to make her way to the shoji door on her dead legs before they finally decided to wake up. With her balance gained she strutted down the hall quietly and clumsily made her way out to the well; Nausea brewing in the pit of her stomach.
Kaoru reached the well with tired limbs and a pounding head ache. She groaned as she placed a cold hand onto her forehead and lowered the bucket down into the depths of the wooden walls. When she heard a small 'plunk' as the bottom rim of the little bucket connected with the water, she let a weary grin slide onto her face as she removed her hand from her forehead and lowered the bucket further downward so the water could fill the wooden container.
A few seconds passed by before she decided that her bucket was full enough and gripped the rope tightly and started to tug. Her grip was slippery from the perspiration and her tugging was weak from her fatigue. She groaned at her low blood pressure and attempted to build up and awaken her muscles by tugging just a little harder. She managed to lift it as much as about four tugs when her muscles decided to abandon the useless action and fall limp. She yelped as the pathetic weight not only yanked the bucket back down to gravity's content , but her as well. She hissed and ground her heels into the dirt to get more leverage on her side, clamping her eyes tight.
Suddenly, the strain on her muscles stopped completely and due to her unknown victory in that game of tug-of-war, she ended up nearly falling forward, grunting in the process. She blinked a bit and looked up slightly to inspect exactly why the difficult task had taken a sharp turn in the opposite direction.
Merely a few inches above her hands, grasping the rope tightly within the palm and clenching of fingers was another hand. Kaoru's sapphire eyes slowly shifted over to the owner of the hand and stared in surprise as Battousai's golden eyes stared down at hers softly.
For a few seconds they stared at each other, neither exchanging any words. Then Battousai's eyes slowly slid shut as he stepped forward in front of her and brought his other hand up to grip the rope.
"Here. Let me help you."
Unable to do anything else, the surprise still rendering her clueless, Kaoru mumbled some incoherent gibberish as she lightly stepped aside, letting go of the rope. He began to tug up the bucket with ease.
As he proceeded in his task, Kaoru continued to stare at him in wonder. He had made no sound what so ever in approaching her and the way he acted, it didn't even seem like he was trying to stay utterly silent. It was as if it came naturally to him to stalk about the place like a shadow with the graces of a cat. She gripped at her yukata a moment and bit her lip. It was all a mystery to her.
What brought her out of her thoughts was the low, vaguely hollow click sound the bucket made as he placed it on the rim of the well. She blinked in confusion as Battousai ran his finger on the edge of the bucket a few times, keeping his gaze averted from hers. Kaoru, playing with the folds of her yukata sleeve, finally broke the silence.
"Um…thank you…for helping me with-"
"I'm sorry."
Kaoru jerked back in utter astonishment as the redhead interrupted her. His apology not only surprised her greatly, but dissolved the words that were forming in her throat, rendering her speechless. She stared at him in pure shock, her mouth slightly a gape and her sapphire eyes ample. Battousai continued to trace the rim of the bucket a bit more vigorously than intended before scrunching up his face and jerking his gaze to hers in boyish irritation.
"What," he asked crossly.
Kaoru suddenly straightened and shook her head briskly, never breaking her stare from his.
"Nothing!…I was just…I mean….why…did you apologize…?"
At her question, Battousai seemed to get even more annoyed at having to supply such information. Didn't she know already? He didn't want to have to bring up the subject. Swallowing his pride and summing up the will power to apologize to such a girl was hard enough. But instead of speaking his mind and roughly putting the cooler mood to an end, he resorted to groaning and looking away bitterly before answering.
"…For those activities…I allowed my comrades to…do to you…"
Kaoru cocked her head to the side slightly, questioning his sincerity.
"…I thought you said that you didn't care…"
With that, the Battousai snapped back at her.
"I never said I didn't care! I just…oh forget it! I said I was sorry, so either take it or leave it. It's an apology offering I don't grant very often."
Kaoru jerked back at the tone of his voice and gave him a bewildered stare. How much of an apology had he actually offered with that statement? Her fingers continued to caress the fabric of her yukata warily before she nodded solemnly.
"Glad you agree," he said dryly. Kaoru snorted lightly as well.
Snuffing in boyish ignorance, Battousai gripped the bucket between his thumbs and lifted it with ease. Stepping briskly over to her, he shoved the bucket into her possession where her hands instinctively supported it from falling. She stared at the rippled reflection of herself before lifting her gaze to his.
"Finish your business. Then immediately head inside back to bed. That's not a suggestion."
With that, he gave her one last intense glare with his glowing amber eyes before brushing past her toward the slumbering inn. The sudden caress of a cold breeze brushed against her flesh and embraced her in the tart welcome of a storm.
Kaoru gazed into the bucket of fresh well water in the process of deep soul searching. His eyes had struck a fresh memory cord that caused a chilling sweat to crease down her back that not even the bitter nip of the breeze could compare to.
His eyes…
Suddenly, Kaoru's sapphire orbs widened as it hit her full force.
Amber eyes…
His amber eyes…the killer in her dream. Irony and coincidence started to form a dizzying dance inside her mind.
Suddenly, she remembered why she formally considered the bucket of water was such a significant necessity as she dropped to her knees and vigorously splashed the liquid onto her face, lapping some of it up and feeling it burn down her parched throat. Her nausea had returned with a vengeance and guaranteed her no possibility of salvation from its sickening onslaught.
The distant low laughter of thunder echoed from the distance as the darkness of the night that blanketed Kyoto was taken to a new level; the storm promising clouds painting an additional coating of shadow black on the navy slate sky.
The brush of the increasing speeds of the winds seemed to be chillier than they should have been. She shivered as they danced around her form, through her clothes, teasing her sensitive skin as they whispered the promise of rain. The orchestra of the skies was about to begin.
She needed to get inside. Quickly.
She urged herself onto the pads of her feet, knocking the bucket over in awkward motivation, but a sudden rear of dizziness and the persistent bustle of the winds stripped her of her balance as she watched the ground mysteriously start to get close to her at an unnaturally fast speed.
She clamped her eyes shut to brace the impact. It never came.
Slowly, she opened her eyes to see the image of the bucket getting smaller and tendrils of her ebony hair whipping in her face. Only then was the arm strapped around her waist tightly apparent to her. Her confusion led to a visual search as she gazed up. Once again, she was surprised by what she saw.
Battousai's stern expression was directed forward toward the inn as he dragged Kaoru's form away from the well. His grip on her was anything but considerate as he tugged her along adamantly. His lips were positioned in an irate frown as water droplets slowly started to fall from the sky. Kaoru was able to pick up a low growl as the rain drops ceased their warning and allowed the heavens to open, immediately soaking those who were lacking that of shelter.
The constant thrumming of the rain on her back was suddenly put to a stop as she was safely delivered under the haven of the inn's roof. Once they had arrived under the sanctuary, Battousai abruptly dropped the girl and immediately proceeded to the wringing-out of his hair.
Kaoru hissed at the painful throb of her backside being met with the hard wood floor, but soon dismissed the ache from her as the overpowering vertigo became her main focus. She suddenly felt so sick to her stomach…
She was barely able to catch the scolding Battousai had started to give her; looking up at him with hazy azure eyes.
"I told you to head immediately back to bed! You should know better than to test my word! And now, thanks to your disobedience, we're both drenched."
His scolding continued as Kaoru tried to process everything he was saying to her. His voice was suddenly becoming a low muffle as his form started to shift in and out of focus. She felt herself start to sway from side to side as her balance became corrupt once more. Battousai's livid voice slowly faded away into silence as she became a victim to gravity.
The last thing she processed in her disease drugged mind was the burn of those amber eyes before everything gave way to darkness.
-
Lendra- O…M…G…. I….AM….SO….SORRY…. I haven't updated in god knows how long. I'm so sorry minna-san! It's 12:35 am at the moment and I'm vaguely tired considering I had finals this week (only three thank god) but being the weird person I am, I stayed up until about 3am for the past three nights…
I've been making really awkward grammar errors. Anywho! I really hope you all liked this chapter! I put my heart and soul into it. To make up for lost time.
Wasn't Battousai so nice in this chapter:D
Battousai – Damn straight! I better deserve better treatment in later chapters! All this disobeying crap isn't worth my time!
Lendra – Trust me, darling (Battousai: -draws sword-) She'll be worth the while in good time.
Battousai – Well she better b-…wait…what?
Lendra – Nothing:D Anyway, I hope everyone liked this chapter!
Battousai – No, what did you say!
Lendra – Please remember to review!
Battousai – Hey! I'm talking here!
Lendra – 'Till next time:D
Battousai – WTF Stop ignoring me!
Lendra – Ciao!
Battousai – Auuuugh!