Author's Note: OMG wow thank you for reviewing! Ha yes I love ending in cliffhangers XD. C'mon! You all know that it makes the story better! Lol, but don't worry, that doesn't mean I'm going to do it all the time… or does it! Lol, you'll see.
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin
Chapter Nine: Out Of Time
The situation remained as it was before. Misao had fallen beneath this man's sword, and she was unconcious from her injury caused by it. No one could save her now. She was all alone. All alone for this man to do away with her, kill her. Was there any hope for her now?
"You were quite a competition for me Misao, but I have won, and I shall claim my reward now." He said and sheathed his katana. He took hold of her shoulders and turned her around. Misao now lay on her back and her head rolled to the side carelessly. He was about to pick her up and carry her away until someone spoke.
"Get away from her now." Said a low and enraged voice that could freeze anyone's heart to ice in an instant.
The man turned around to find Aoshi, who had just arrived and glaring intensely at the man who was about to pick up Misao.
"Oh, so you've come to rescue her, have you not?" He asked Aoshi with a smirk on his lips, still at his spot on the ground holding Misao by the shoulders.
Aoshi did not answer back as he lifted one hand up to the hilt of one of his Kodachi. "Get away from her and fight me." Aoshi demanded in his dangerously low voice. 'Who is this person?' Aoshi wondered and asked him, "Who are you? Tell me your name and who sent you."
The man laughed, "Your little Misao here just asked me the same thing before we fought. I told her that I would reveal my identity if she won, and she clearly lost." He looked at the fallen girl lying in his arms, "And even I did tell her, she wouldn't hear me. That's such a shame." He chuckled disturbingly.
Aoshi scoffed at his behavior, 'Idiotic psycho…' He looked over to Misao. He hoped that she was ok, but he couldn't tell from his distance. Aoshi felt his old duty of heart return. In that past, Aoshi had always rescued Misao from certain death. But that was a long time ago. Now, this was the first time, in a long time, that Aoshi needed to come to her rescue again. And that felt strangely good to him.
Aoshi unsheathed his kodachi and readied it.
The man laughed once more, "Very well, we shall battle. And the same rules apply to you. If you win, I'll tell you who I am and who I work for. But if I win, I keep the girl."
Aoshi did not answer. There was no way in Heaven or Hell that this guy would simply take Misao and run off with her. Aoshi would be damned if he let that happen.
What Aoshi didn't know, was that this man he was about to fight, served the next greatest threat to Japan.
Lord Matsuo sat in his large and silent dojo. It was dark and filled with lit candles on the walls of the inside. Matsuo sat in the center and meditated. After about an hour he opened his eyes.
"Houko."
The servant did not move from where he stood outside the shoji doors, "Yes Master Matsuo?"
"Send him in." He replied.
Houko nodded and walked away.
Lord Matsuo smirked, "Shishio, you were such a fool. You could not take down the entire Oniwabanshu and the Hitokri Battousai." He said aloud to himself as though he were talking about the weather.
Through the dim lighting in the room, Matsuo saw a shadowed figure standing before the shoji door
"Enter." He said in reply and after bowing, the man did so.
The man he had called for walked to Matsuo slowly and then sat in front of him.
"I have a job for you." He started and the man in front of him nodded. "Travel to where the Oniwabanshu are located and fight their leader, his name is Shinomori Aoshi."
The man paused for a moment, "What is his history my Lord? The name sounds familiar. Was he the leader of the Oniwabanshu group?"
"Yes, he was their leader for years, but then after the death of his most loyal of comrades he went into solitude from the world and practically turned into a devil, building up an immense hatred for Battousia, wanting the title of the strongest for his men. He gained a temporary alliance with Shishio after he was told that he would have a chance to fight Battousai again, he turned against his comrades and fought against Battousai and anyone else who stood in his way because of his own selfish ambition. During that time, the Oniwabanshu had a new leader for the time being, her name is Makimachi Misao. After Shinomori's battle with the Battousai, he was beaten, and went back to his comrades and take his place as leader again. And they along with Battousai defeated Shishio."
The man nodded in full understanding, "I see. Yes it's all clear now."
"Fight against the two leaders and report back to me immediately."
"As you wish, my Lord." He said and left to do as ordered of him. Lord Yutaka hung his head down, "That's right Shinomori, I know everything about you. And that will be your ultimate downfall."…
"Let's go, Shinomori." He said and charged at him. Aoshi pulled out his kodachi. Since it was very good in defense rather than offense, he was glad this guy made the first move. 'His last move,' Aoshi had thought.
The fight began and Aoshi shielded himself with his kodachi from the man's deadly katana. The collision created a deafening metal clash for a single moment and faded into nothingness once the swords were separated once more. As Aoshi distracted him when he raised his sword up, he sneaked a powerful kick to the man's gut and saw that his adversary clutched his stomach with his free arm.
"Y-You. I'll get you for that." He seethed and released his arm from his stomach that didn't give the impression to be in pain anymore. Aoshi was somewhat surprised by this, but of course didn't show it. He continued when he saw Aoshi steal a quick glance at Misao who still seemed to be unconscious.
"What's wrong Shinomori? Upset that I hurt your woman there? Don't worry; she'll be taken care of soon enough. But for now, I'm going to play with you for a while longer."
Aoshi scoffed, "Are words your only other weapon? Stop talking and fight." He said and ran towards his enemy. This time, the merciless killer was prepared for Aoshi's attack and readied himself with a self-assured smirk.
It all happened so quickly.
The katana was so close to reaching Aoshi's arm, that he felt the sharp wind of the blade that made his heart skip a beat. He had dodged it just in time.
Aoshi brought his kodachi in front of him as a shield for the moment when his opponent attacked with immense force. The blades crashed together as one again. Aoshi pushed his sword against his to the right to get it out of his way, and he promptly brought it back in front of him and thrust it in the direction of the man's chest.
He was quick to dodge, but received a thin cut across his chest. Once he was a safe distance from Aoshi, he looked down at his minor wound and glared at it, but then relaxed. "Hmph, you know what the sad thing for you is about this Shinomori?"
Aoshi didn't move.
"It's that this will probably be the most damage you'll be able to do to me for the duration of this battle."
Aoshi still made no move, "We'll see about that."
With his kodachi ready, he was about to attack, but then saw someone out of the corner of his eye and so looked there. And of all people, he saw that Hideki was there, trying to see if Misao was all right.
'Why is he here?' He asked himself curiously.
"What the hell are you looking at!" His opponent yelled and headed for him in a fast sprint with his katana in position for his next technique. Aoshi looked at him just when he swung his katana toward his face, and ducked. After a few moments, the look of realization spread across his features. Had another second passed, Aoshi could have had his head cut deeply and instantly killed. This man was too fast.
Hideki was trying desperately to understand the situation at hand. Aoshi and some other guy were fighting each other, and Misao was obviously hurt incredibly bad to be in an unconscious state as she is now.
"Oh Misao, what happened to you?" He whispered and brought her in his lap and placed pressure on her bleeding wound. He tore off the sleeve of his red hakama. He tied it tight enough around her wound to stop the bleeding as much as possible.
He looked up at the fight taking place just yards before him, 'I wonder how Aoshi and Misao got themselves into this dilemma in the first place.'
Aoshi punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground temporarily and now looked at Hideki, "Leave with Misao to the Aoiya and have her friends there heal her wounds. Go now."
Hideki hesitated at first, not expecting Aoshi to talk to him at the moment, with him fighting someone and all. Then he nodded quickly and gathered Misao in his arms carefully. He walked as fast as he could passed Aoshi and the man who was now beginning to stand up. Aoshi made sure that Hideki and Misao were out of sight, once he couldn't sense their ki anymore, he continued the battle.
What seemed like a half hour later, both opponents were breathing deeply from their seemingly nonstop fighting.
'What's up with this guy? Even after all this time I can't find his weak point.' The killer in black thought as he gradually lowered his katana. However, unbeknownst to him, Aoshi was thinking the exact same thing.
He finally smirked another time and raised his katana again. 'I know what to do.'
After waiting a moment, he ran toward Aoshi and raised his katana high, knowing Aoshi was expecting him to bring it down on him. But suddenly, He swung his katana to the right and instead reached inside his clothing, bringing out his fist he threw some type of sand in Aoshi's face.
Aoshi was so pissed off now. First of all, this guy had hurt Misao. Second, he was too damn fast for Aoshi's liking. And thirdly, relating to his second statement, this man just tricked him and threw sand at him all in a ridiculous instant.
Aoshi grunted in frustration and covered his face with his free arm; the other swung the kodachi at where he first sensed his opponent's ki to be, and felt nothing. 'Damn him.'
He landed and sheathed his katana as he stood behind Aoshi.
"Say goodnight, Shinomori." He said tauntingly, dropping his sword and bringing both his fists together with his fingers intertwined with each other. He brought his arms up and swung them back down with a great force on the back of Aoshi's head. His fists made a loud thud against Aoshi, and he fell on the hard ground, instantly blacking out.