Chapter 10: The Art of Seduction
Find What You Lost
by iridian
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Rurouni Kenshin, the all belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki-sama.
Kaoru felt the bile rising in her throat, burning its way up. She resolutely swallowed hard, the bile stinging flesh abused by her constant heaving as it was forced back down into her stomach.
Enishi will not do this to me…my own uncle.
But even she didn't believe herself.
Flashback
"Stop this Enishi, you're being ridiculous."
"Don't tell me what to do anymore! I don't take orders from backstabbing whores like you!"
Little Kaoru crouched down, listening in to the heated exchange going on inside.
"Enishi, I did not leave you. I got married, but I am still your onee-chan, ne?"
"I don't have a sister. Mother and father are disappointed in you, you goddamn whore!"
"Enishi, they're not alive anymore, how can they possibly have any opinions?"
"Shut up, bitch!"
A resounding slap echoed through the empty hallway where Kaoru was.
She quickly got up and ran, hoping that her daddy would be nearby.
"Daddy? Daddy? Come quick! Uncle Enishi is hurting Mommy!"
Saitoh's snakelike eyes widened.
"Where are they, Kaoru-chan? Quick, take Daddy to them." A subtle sense of urgency and desperation tickled Kaoru's senses from her father's voice, but she quickly shook it off. Her daddy was never scared.
She grabbed his hand and began weaving her way through the castle hallways, her small hand gripping her father's much larger callused one tightly.
"Enishi, think this over. You're all I have left! Please don't do this!"
Kaoru watched her father barrel into the room, a hand on his katana.
A brief scuffle occurred, bangs and curses coming from the room.
A troop of palace guards arrived on the scene, paying no attention to the little girl by the doorway.
"You will burn! I'll avenge my family in this life and in the next!"
Kaoru heard the captain apologizing to her parents, and the sounds of her uncle being tied up and marched between a phalanx of heavily armed trained soldiers.
Her mom and dad came out, Kaoru immediately going up to them.
"What's going on? Where are they taking him? What happened?"
Saitoh gave his daughter that 'be quiet' look, and Kaoru immediately shut her mouth, burrowing further into her mother's embrace.
The soldiers came out, Enishi still putting up a fight.
His eyes caught Kaoru's.
"My little niece…we'll be seeing each other, yes? You'll be good for Uncle Enishi won't you?"
End Flashback
Kaoru felt the bile rising in her throat again.
Kenshin will come for me. I am his wife after all. He has to rescue me…he's the most renowned military mind and samurai in the entire country! And father will come and help me, and Soujirou too. And I'm certainly no pushover.
Kaoru snorted loudly.
"They won't get away so easily."
---
A loud crash resounded from the throne room of the palace.
"How did this happen? Tell me how this happened, because I'm sure that I sent you to protect her."
Saitoh's narrow gold eyes burned into the three cowering men before him.
"Your highness, we didn't detect any movements from-."
"Get out."
The three men stood, bowing hastily, then scrambled out of the room, the last nervously tripping before leaving the room.
"How could he lose her so soon? I had expected better from Battousai," snarled Saitoh.
"I knew this was going to happen, sooner or later. Perhaps it was not wise to conceal the situation from him when we gave her to him," replied Tomoe.
"Well, he probably knows enough by now. Even if he doesn't know the whole story, why should he even care? It doesn't matter who took her, she is his goddamn wife!"
"We must lend our support to him as soon as possible. He has been waiting long, and his…people threaten our reign as well."
"Good lord woman, lighten up. I have faith in Himura, and an even greater faith in myself."
"Well look who's talking now."
---
Kenshin had never thought that he would be facing something like this. Now that it had happened, he wasn't sure how it had happened without him knowing anything about it. Of course, he accredited it to Saitoh, who would be the only one who would turn a favor owed to something that benefited himself.
Kaoru had turned out to be a liability, not the asset that he had hoped she would be. As Saitoh's daughter, marrying her had been a political move on his own part to gain a powerful ally, and scare away potential enemies. He knew Saitoh had enemies, but none so far had been powerful enough to make an open attack on him, but now those enemies had banded together. It was a completely unprecedented move. The Shimabara Christian groups and the Jinchuu had been enemies as long as they had both been opposed to Saitoh.
Obviously, Kami-sama had had something shoved up his ass for this to happen.
A knock came from outside, bringing Kenshin out of his reverie.
"Kenshin-san, may I come in?"
"Hai."
Seta Soujirou walked silently into Kenshin's study, his trademark smile plastered onto his face.
"You wish to see me?"
"I want you to start gathering your forces and allies as soon as possible. As it is, I'm sure that you have a better handle on what the hell is going on better than I do, considering your ties to the Hajime family. However, that is not the priority here, and while I would appreciate knowing more, I am only concerned with getting Kaoru back, and then I will ask questions."
Soujirou only smiled at his response.
He turned and left the room, leaving Kenshin to his preparations.
---
Pale dove grey slippers padded down the hallway, the only sound being the rustle of silk.
Inoe shook out the long grey ribbons and began tying them in a crossover pattern over her arms, securing the silk onto her thin arms, and repeating the action on both of her legs. The pale silk billowed out slightly at her elbows, and was lined with a dark charcoal grey. Her hair was secured in a light bun high on the back of her head, a grey veil covering the bottom half of her face, leaving her pale eyes open and framed by her luminous hair.
"Just where do you keep the weapons in that?" A sarcastic drawl reached Inoe's ears.
Tsukinoyo and Nari leaned on opposite walls of the hallway.
"Where are you going?" said Nari.
"Where are you going?" responded Inoe, raising her eyebrow at her to cousins, dressed identically in black ninja outfits.
"Perhaps the real question is here are all of you going?"
All three cousins turned to look at the tall brown-haired man behind them.
"Souzou-san. Surely you don't intend to impede anything, do you?"
Sousou offered a resigned smile. "Always so cold, so formal. No, I don't Inoe, you know that. I don't have the authority to, and even if I did…" He trailed off.
"Well, it wouldn't work is they main idea here." He smiled lightly at all of them.
"You're damn right it wouldn't work!" shouted Tsukinoyo.
"Tsuki!" said Nari, putting a hand on her arm.
"We'll be seeing you, captain," said Inoe.
He stood there, watching as they slipped out of sight.
"Don't do anything foolish, please."
---
Inoe paused, her two cousins behind her also coming to a confused halt.
"You two go back."
Tsukinoyo spoke up, her voice incredulous. "Are you kidding? There is no way I am allowing you to do…whatever it is…by yourself."
"Well, there is no way that I am going to do anything with you two here. Let's head back then."
"But you can't just not do anything about this!" exclaimed Nari.
"But it makes even more sense for me not to do anything. Kaoru is of no concern to me, we share no blood. At worst, Kenshin can take a new wife. As a woman, I shouldn't be doing these things anyway," replied Inoe.
Tsukinoyo and Nari looked on hopelessly. Slowly, they exchanged looks.
"Inoe, you've always been far too stubborn for your own good," spat Tsukinoyo bitterly.
She turned on her heel, stalking back to the estate she had only just left.
Nari sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing." She turned away, hesitated, and came to put a reassuring hand on Inoe's shoulder. "Be careful."
---
Inoe crept silently through the trees, finally getting her eyes on the target.
Bakas, they chose the most obvious place to put her.
Of course, it had helped that Inoe had been more than a little persuasive with the men she had met on the way.
She dropped off the branch she was sitting on, noting the suspicious lack of guards around the cement cube that stood before her. A heavy looking wooden door stood sentry.
Too easy.
---
Kaoru had almost given up hope. It had been who knows how long, since she couldn't see anything, and only light being the 4 metal grates on each side of the room. Even so, she had no way to tell how long she had been here.
She twitched nervously against her bonds, feeling the heavy ropes rub against the raw flesh it had revealed.
The heavy door swung slightly inwards, but the handle remained stationary, as the hinged side moved instead.
A veiled head popped in, followed by the rest of the body.
"Kaoru? I'm so glad I found you."
Kaoru smiled nervously in return.
"Inoe-san, how did you find me?"
Inoe had already gotten out a small knife, slicing through her bonds with ease.
"My little secret. We have to leave now. This was far too easy…"
There was a light swish, but both heads turned to look at the intruder.
"Kaoru, it's so good to see you haven't lost your touch. And look, you have a friend too. How sweet."
Inoe moved forward, unconsciously putting herself between Kaoru and the intruder.
"I don't know who you are, but I suggest you leave while you can."
Enishi chuckled. "Another feisty woman. Would you look at that…birds of a feather flock together."
Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "You had better leave, Enishi. Do you think you can stop both of us?"
"Maybe I can."
Inoe smirked at this. "Awfully cocky for a lone fighter."
"And who might this be? High end friends for someone like you, Kaoru." Enishi smiled viciously at her, but she refused to be cowed, instead squaring her shoulders and looking straight back at him.
"Who I am is not of your concern, now please step out of the way."
Enishi swept a low bow, gesturing lightly at the door. "If you please," he murmured.
Inoe and Kaoru were out in a flash, the guards that had accompanied Enishi immediately chasing them.
"Stop," said Enishi, "We'll see them again later." Kaoru won't be able to hide from her past, or me for much longer…
Kaoru looked over at Inoe as she leaned against a tree, making sure that no one was following them. She didn't know why Enishi let them go so easily, but Kaoru knew. He would use this to his advantage for sure. A sickening wave of terror rose in her throat thinking about how her life would crumble if Enishi knew…
"They don't seem to be following us."
Inoe's soft voice broke Kaoru's silent soliloquy, and she looked up, meeting Inoe's grye eyes.
"We had better get a move on, everyone will be worrying about you."
I'm so sorry about the lack in updating. I just completely lost my inspiration…but I've finally gotten a grasp on exactly where I want the story to go, so look forward to the next chapters. Hope you enjoyed and leave me a review!
Iri
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