The Best of Intentions:
Chapter 10
The train came to an abrupt halt and Aoshi tightened his hold upon Kaoru to keep her from flying out of their seat. He rose up on his elbows and glanced at the older couple across from them only to see them rubbing the back of their heads. Apparently they hit the back of their skulls against the unforgiving wall of the boxcar.
Kaoru scrambled off Aoshi's lap and stood up near the window, peering into the twilight. "The sun has only begun to rise," she announced. She jumped on her tiptoes, trying to see more when Aoshi moved to stand behind her and look in the direction she was straining to see. He leaned against her, trying for a better view, pressing his chest to her back.
"It looks like there is something on the track ahead," Aoshi announced as he stepped back away from Kaoru. He was enjoying the feel of her against him too much for his own good and after spotting the wreck, he moved away as quickly as possible. There was no excuse to touch her like that, because earlier it was for their mutual comfort so that they could sleep, nothing more!
He opened the door to their boxcar and turned back to Kaoru and the older couple. "I'll be right back. I'm going to see the conductor to find out about the wreckage further up on the track."
The door shut resolutely behind him. He tried to ignore the possessive feeling he kept having towards Kaoru. She was only his friend and he was moderately attracted to her. So what? He was attracted to plenty of women. Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration because he couldn't remember ever wanting to spend more time with any woman more than he wanted to with Kaoru.
Aoshi didn't have to look hard for the conductor; the frazzled man was shooting out of the front part of the train and heading for the exit. Aoshi cut him off. "What's going on?"
The man looked up at him wearily, dark eyes somber and grey hair rumpled. "There was an accident. People are trapped inside of the overturned boxcar ahead on the tracks. I barely heard the warning to stop so that we wouldn't hit them."
"I see," Aoshi replied. "What is the plan?"
"I need to gather strong men to get out the trapped people. There are about eight individuals inside of the cart and most are injured." The conductor looked Aoshi up and down, appraising his worth in muscle. "Can I count on your assistance?" Aoshi gave a brief nod before walking back to inform Kaoru.
He was about to slide open the door to his boxcar when it slid open before him. Kaoru was standing on the other side, features tightened in anxiety. "Is it bad?"
"There was an accident. People are trapped inside of that car. I'll be helping with the rescue. I want you to stay here so that I don't have to look for you later." He turned to leave but was stopped when Kaoru wrapped her hands around his right arm, causing him to nearly lose his balance. "What?" He asked in annoyance, but regretted it when he saw the hurt look on her face; he did well to keep up his façade of indifference.
"I'm going too. I have learned some things from all those years with Megumi. I can help, and I will help," Kaoru informed him resolutely. He shrugged his arm out of her grasp and didn't answer, but he also didn't argue.
The boxcar was a wicked twist of metal and wood. He could hear the crying of children inside. Aoshi rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and began to climb up the side of the car. The other men that had been rounded up were older and less limber than he. It would seem that the majority of the dirty work would be up to the ninja. He leaned over the edge of the giant gaping hole and peered into the darkness within.
"I'm here to help," he called down to the people below.
"Oh thank God!" One woman exclaimed. "Take my little girl please!" Aoshi could barely make out the form of a toddler in a long flowery dress being raised up towards him. He stretched out his arms and was able to catch hold of the child. He pulled her to his chest and handed her to the man that was standing close to his position.
"Alright, any other children?" Aoshi asked. The question was followed by a young boy being lifted up to him. The easy part was over now. The people that remained were substantially heavier and injured.
"I can probably lift some of the women," a man called from below.
"No Earl! You'll hurt your back even more!" A woman scolded him.
"I'd rather hurt my back more than stand around doing nothing!" Earl, apparently, answered back.
Aoshi was handed a rope ladder by one of the train workers that was younger and in better shape than most. The man sat near him by the hole and gripped one side of the rope ladder; Aoshi held the other. "We're going to throw down this ladder. One at a time, climb up." The train worker called.
The bickering couple exited. One individual had a broken arm but was able to climb up fairly well with the handicap. Most people had several cuts but the damage was not substantial. Aoshi glanced over the side of the train and noticed Kaoru was busy patching up the cuts of one of the children. The sight caused his heart to warm; she'd make a lovely mother. Abruptly he shook his head of such a thought and focused on the remaining trapped individual.
"I can't climb it," a soft feminine voice called up weakly.
The other guy leaned over the hole. "How much do you weigh?"
"I beg your pardon!"
"How much do you weigh, I need to know if I can carry you or not," he explained.
"I don't want you to touch me!" she called back.
The train worker turned to Aoshi and talked quietly so the woman couldn't over hear. "She's faking it. She's trying to pull the damsel in distress routine. I say we leave her."
"No," Aoshi interrupted his fellow hero with a glare of annoyance. He peered down the rope ladder. "Get someone else to hold up my end. I'll get her."
"You're going to regret it," the man warned. "I've had one of these sorts before. They stalk you for ages ranting about how you saved their lives and they owe you, et cetera."
Aoshi didn't answer but waited until another strong man anchored down the other end of the rope ladder. The ninja climbed down the rope ladder, acutely aware that the woman was checking out his back side. Normally the thought wouldn't annoy him so much, but frankly it was ticking him off at the moment. He turned around to face his charge.
She didn't look very injured to him; perhaps underdressed as she was leaning against the wall of the boxcar out of the chaos with hardly a stitch of clothing upon her person. The come-hither look she was casting Aoshi told him right then and there that if he so desired he could have his way with her. "Are you ready?"
"Oh yes," she smiled seductively as she trailed her fingers down her body, her long blond hair hid some of her curves in shadow.
"You're going to be cold like that." Aoshi told her coldly as he turned his back on her and placed his hands back upon the rope ladder. He noticed that she had a European accent, probably French. "She doesn't need my help," he called up. He was about to climb back up when he felt two bare arms and a couple of legs wrap around him from behind.
She began to trail her fingers down to his privates and Aoshi released his hold of the ladder and pried her hands away roughly. "I don't think so," he informed her. "But if you're ready to go up like this, so be it." He began to climb the ladder quickly, quicker than the woman could think, and in seconds she was exposed to the world in barely anything more than her birthday suit.
Aoshi stood dignified with a practically naked woman clutched against his back. He turned to face the man that warned him. And he quickly stood and plucked the woman off. Aoshi took off his shirt and tossed it to the blond woman seeing as she already tainted it, before he jumped off the overturned boxcar and made a bee-line for Kaoru.
Not only was he annoyed with the blond woman's attempts at invading his privacy, but there was a young man talking to Kaoru. The man had light brown hair and eyes, and if he had to guess, he'd say this man was French as well.
"I am so ashamed of my cousin. Sometimes she just likes to have the attention, no?" The brunette was apologizing to Kaoru as he handed her some linen cloth bandages to tend the little boy that had a few cuts from the wreckage.
Aoshi stood before them, arms crossed over his chest and his eyes dark with annoyance. "Remind me never to do that again." He requested of Kaoru, purposely disregarding the other man. Kaoru finished the bandages on the little boy before facing Aoshi directly. She had seen the woman clinging to his back and felt insanely jealous so she focused on bandaging the child and on ignoring the attractive foreigner who was trying to help her. Now Aoshi stood in front of her without his shirt in broad day light.
The scars that littered his tanned torso glowed a pale white. She reached her fingers absently towards one particular cross shaped scar over his chest, the temptation was too great. She felt the slightly raised smooth scar tissue marring his perfectly sculpted form. "I can't stop you from being heroic," Kaoru answered as she drew back her hand as if scorched when she realized she was touching him. Her eyes locked with his, and there was some unnamed burning passion in both.
"I meant," Aoshi elaborated as he reached for the wrist of the hand drawing away from him. "Don't let me get involved with another psychotic woman." He held her wrist as he searched her eyes, looking for some kind of answer. The woman on the train was beautiful and should have been tempting, yet he found her only a bother if not revolting.
"I'll do my best, but you just seem to attract that sort," Kaoru teased as she slid her hand out of Aoshi's relaxed grip. She was about to say more when she felt the air whoosh out of her lungs as a pair of arms wrapped around her stomach from behind and squeezed. She looked over her shoulder to see the little boy hugging her to death and a pleased grin on the Frenchman's face.
"Thank you, Miss," the child spoke into her back before running off to where his grandparents were waiting.
"You seem to have a way with children," Aoshi remarked as they silently watched the boy reunite with Earl and his wife. From the corner of his eye, Aoshi noticed the blond woman was walking towards him with a wicked gleam in her eye. Aoshi pulled Kaoru to stand in front of him, as some sort of protective barrier from the crazy woman.
The foreign man began to laugh, regaining the attention of the two who seemed to ignore his presence. "It seems my cousin had set her sights on you, Monsieur."
"Can I help you?" Kaoru asked when the woman approached. The blond looked briefly at Kaoru and her cousin before turning her attention to Aoshi and pulling his shirt tighter against her body to accentuate her curves.
"The dark haired homme and I have some unsettled business," she answered.
"It will have to remain that way," Kaoru informed her.
The blond turned her attention to Kaoru and looked her up and down. "And who are you, femme?" She challenged with her hand resting upon her hip.
Kaoru's teeth clinched and Aoshi buried his face in the hair on the top of Kaoru's head. He snorted with laughter at the woman's behavior but was certain that Kaoru thought his snort was with disgust.
With her left eye twitching, Kaoru tightened her slackened jaw. "We have to go," she pushed Aoshi towards their train with the intentions of locking them safely away inside of their boxcar.
"Wait!" The Frenchman called with a hand upon Kaoru's forearm. "I apologize for Jezabelle, she is sometimes a little, how do you say, flirteuse?" He tried to charm his way with his pearly white smile.
"Our train will be leaving soon," Aoshi remarked as he picked off the other man's hand away from Kaoru.
The Frenchman shook his head, "Oh but Monseur surely your train will be delayed with the track to be cleared." He took off his hat and bowed deep. "Allow this homme to share my carriage with you. I am on route to Kyoto." His cousin stood beside him and smiled coyly.
"It is the least we can do homme," she pressed with a flip of her long blond hair over her shoulder.
"Who says we are heading to Kyoto?" Kaoru asked suspiciously as she pressed her back closer against Aoshi's chest trying to stay as far out of reach of the French cousins as possible.
"Oh my belle petite, it is obvious. The train you were on has only one stop mon ami."
"Come mon hèros. Jacques and I would love to give you a ride," Jezabelle cooed as she sauntered over towards Aoshi and ran her finger tips along his shoulders, even with his arms around Kaoru. Aoshi flinched out of her way and put Kaoru between them as a shield once more.
The ninja was so focused on Jezabelle he didn't realize that Jacques was reaching to brush his finger tips along Kaoru's cheek. He lifted his hand away with an apologetic smile. "You had an eyelash," he explained when Kaoru looked about to bite him.
"We will wait for the train, but thank you anyway." Aoshi answered as he edged his way away from the two overzealous cousins with Kaoru in tow.
"If you are sure, Monsieur," Jacques answered, holding a restraining hand on Jezabelle who looked about to follow after the Japanese couple. "Perhaps, I shall see you again in Kyoto, Madame."
"I wouldn't count on it," Aoshi told him as he used the great length of legs to walk away quickly. Discretely, he lifted Kaoru off her feet and held her in front of him, the soles of her feet hovering perhaps two inches above ground.
After reaching the train, Aoshi and Kaoru practically ran to their boxcar where the older couple was already waiting for them. "Was the wreckage bad?" The husband asked.
"No, it was fine," Aoshi answered as he and Kaoru collapsed on their bench seat.
"Aoshi helped pull people out of the overturned boxcar," Kaoru explained. "Did you hear when the conductor expects the train to leave?"
"He said within the hour," the wife across from them answered. "We noticed the two of you standing outside talking to those fair haired people," she prompted.
"Yes, let's not talk about them." Aoshi interjected as he reached into his bag and pulled out another shirt to replace the one that he wanted to never think about again.
The husband and wife exchanged a knowing look and laughed softly to themselves. Kaoru and Aoshi tried to ignore them and will the next hour to pass quickly.
"I don't know about you, but I feel violated," Kaoru grumbled with her arms crossed tightly over her chest and glaring out the window at the French cousins that were talking heatedly to one another.
Aoshi followed her gaze and then refocused on buttoning his shirt.
oooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo
Megumi tossed her long, dark hair over her shoulder in annoyance. The summer heat was causing her to sweat and making the long, fine hair stick against her clammy skin. She felt very dirty and didn't like it one bit.
"Stupid, drunk, conceited, hermit," she began to grumble off the list of all the qualities she detested in the man that she had foolishly decided to seek out for his assistance and expertise in tracking people.
Little did she notice that another presence lurked in the forest, watching her approach the small hut perched upon the mountaintop, purposely secluded from civilization. He took a swing from his sake jar and watched with amusement as the city girl roughed it in the wilderness.
Megumi paused to gaze warily at the steep path she had yet to brave. She took a deep breath and released it in a whoosh before picking up the ends of her skirt and marching determinedly up the gravel. She paused about half-way up. "What if he's entertaining women? I know he's a womanizer, but…."she trailed up, and a mischievous smirk replaced the frown that was beginning to form. "I suppose if that's the case, Fox, you'll just have to let them know they had better get lost."
Her pace resumed with more confidence as she struggled to contain a laugh at her own declaration. "As if I would want to charm a drunken ogre," she scoffed with disdain.
"I am curious to whom you are referring," Hiko's voice boomed out from behind her, causing the normally collected doctor to almost trip over her own feet in surprise. She recovered quickly and turned to face the drunken ogre with her most charming smile. It vanished when Hiko merely glanced back at her coolly without any facial expression what-so-ever while calmly drinking some more of his cursed alcohol.
"Hiko-san, what a pleasure to see you," Megumi smiled pure saccharine at the older man and was rewarded with an arched brow.
"Not many people live on my private mountain," Hiko answered, his voice revealing some humor. His long white cape fluttered in the wind behind him, and Megumi wondered how he could wear such a thing in the heat. She opened her mouth to continue but promptly shut it when Kenshin's master was no longer where he had been.
Dark brown eyes blinked in astonishment at the blank place where the master swordsman was supposed to be. She recovered quickly when Hiko stood beside her and wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulders. For a moment, Megumi forgot herself and was absorbed completely in the pure wonder of the man beside her. He radiated confidence and charm, no wonder he had women flocking towards him.
"I believe you have come to speak to this drunken ogre," he whispered in her ear, causing goosebumps to rise all over her flesh. Just as quickly, he released her and was about ten feet in front of her, walking towards his home. He glanced over his shoulder briefly, "I suppose you wish to discuss soliciting my help for something."
"Yes, I thought you could help me find my family." Megumi replied with careful deliberation to sound completely composed and undisturbed by the tall, muscle bound, gorgeous, drunken ogre!
Hiko didn't answer for a long time and surprisingly held open his front door for her to enter first. Directly meeting her hopeful gaze, "Why would you think that I would help you?"
"I didn't," Megumi answered softly, her eyes briefly glimmered with disappointment, but she struggled to remain aloof. But that brief glimmer was enough for Hiko to catch.
"Then you obviously don't know enough about me to make such a judgment," Hiko told her in a sharp, commanding voice. He looked her over with a critical eye once more, "I hope you can cook better than my baka-deshi's woman."
A large, genuine grin broke out on Megumi's face. She was truly beautiful with that smile, so unlike her calculated coyness. "I most certainly can. I can also treat wounds."
Hiko raised a hand to his chest in mock pain. "Are you saying that I am old and need medical assistance?" His eyes narrowed, and he gave her a menacing glare.
"No, of course not, you don't look old at all! I was just trying to tell you more about my skills, I'm a medical doctor." Megumi explained.
"I see," Hiko replied as he swirled the dregs that remained at the bottom of his sake jar. He met her eyes once more. "Can you mix drinks?"
Megumi slowly nodded her head in affirmation. Hiko cupped her cheeks and kissed her fully on the lips quick as lightning. Megumi was in such shock she didn't register the act until it was over and Hiko was sitting on the other side of the room with a new bottle of sake in his hand.
This was going to be a very long quest.