A/N: Okay, here is chapter 8. Enjoy enjoy! And review, too! ^-^
"Hey, Lord Aoshi! Where're we goin'? Huh? Huh? Huh? HUH? HEY LORD AOSHI!"
That girl was so annoying. She was loud, persistant, irritating, had an annoying voice, and really did resemble a weasel.
"LORD AOSHI, WAIT UP!"
And that was why he loved her. He stopped and waited.
"We're going to visit Battousai." He was an old friend of Aoshi's. Actually, they were rivals for a while there. But now they were friends. So they were going to visit him. "Any oher questions?"
"Oh, GOODY! Himura is so much fun to annoy!" Aoshi chuckled, thinking of how angry he'd gotten and how close it had came to bloodshed that one last time they had visited. It shocked them both. He coughed in an attempt to cover the almost-laugh. Misao practically floated. After a few minutes, she got over it.
"Well. WHAT'RE WE WAITING AROUND FOR, LORD AOSHI! LET'S GO!" And they did.
Kaoru woke up to the smell of spaghetti sauce. Her stomach growled softly at her, warning her that it was, in fact, beginning to get really hungry.
"Took you long enough." A voice snarled. She opened her eyes, and sat straight up. Of course, she forgot that she was on a couch.
And therefore, when she made that incredibly speedy movement, she had the natural grace to fall right off of the couch and directly onto the 'oh-so-soft' carpet below.
"Ow." Was her brilliant comment. Kaoru groaned. She could FEEL Battousai's smirk. "Don't even GO there." She grumbled, standing up after a short argument with the blanket she found herself wrapped in.
Battousai watched her fight the blanket off, almost-smiling. She'd looked cold, so he'd put it on her. Of course, he wasn't going to TELL her that.
Kaoru, who had finally gotten free of the blanket and then thrown it across the room for aggrivating her, watched him warily as she sat on the couch. Then she noticed a missing prescence.
"Where's Fluffers?"
"Sano took him on his way out."
"Why did Sano leave?"
"He had a mission. I do, as well." That was when Kaoru realized that Battousai was in his full 'uniform'. He'd added a few pieces from when he'd kidnapped her. Such as wrist-guards, boots, a chest plate, and a second sword. A glance from the corner of her eye confirmed that the smaller sword, as well as the larger one, had both been taken from the rack.
And he had the scar in full view. Remembering what he'd said to her just after he'd kidnapped her..
He was going out to kill tonight.
"You're going to murder someone." She said softly.
"Yes." Kaoru was surprised. She expected him to yell at her for using that word and say that he preferred 'assassinate'. It was strange, because he hadn't ACTUALLY yelled at her at all, not even when he'd kidnapped her.
Battousai saw her surprise, confusion, and then embarressment. Perhaps he needed to teach her how to guard her emotions some, her eyes were so unsheilded that he could see right through her.
"Dinner is on the table, it should still be hot. I will be back late." He said without looking at her. He stood, and pulled his black leather duster on over his outfit, making sure the swords were completely covered.
"Okay." She said calmly, more awake now. She watched him as he walked.. no, that wasn't the right word. Flowed, to the door. His movements were so incredibly graceful that every time she watched him it was as though she was observing a ballet.
Battousai failed to notice something. He knew her eyes were on him, but he made one crucial error. He did not shield the keypad from her eyes.
Kaoru watched his fingers, memorizing the numbers he hit. 'Six, three, one, four, nine, seven, two, five'
"I'll be back later." And then he was gone. Kaoru heard a click that indicated a lock being activated. She went over to the food. Her head was spinning. To much hunger. So, she ate. And was surprised – she'd expected Battousai to have culinary skills about as good as hers.
But not only was his food edible, it tasted fantastic. Perhaps she was just hungry. Kaoru finished quickly, and washed her plate, putting it away neatly after a five-minute search for the right cabinet.
And then she went to the door. Finally, she could leave. So what if she actually kind of liked Batto- blast it! She kept forgetting to call him Kenshin. But.. he just didn't SEEM like a Kenshin.
Kaoru decided to give this lovely internal argument up. She typed the numbers into the keypad, hoping with everything she had that she'd remembered the right combination. When the door clicked open, she nearly fell down from the sheer relief. She hurried out, closing the door carefully behind her. And then she turned and headed for the stairs.
"Hey, YOU! What do you think you're doing!?" She froze mid-step. Only four steps away from Kenshin's apartment. SO BLOODY CLOSE. She turned, and didn't recognize the people looking at her.
They both had dark hair. The man was tall, and had a dangerous glint in his eyes that almost matched Battousai's. The girl was small, with a vibrant aura and a long braid.
"Oh. Hello." She smiled.
"Why are you coming out of Himura's apartment?" Kaoru cursed the gods with everything she could possibly think of. Of COURSE these people should know Battousai.
"Oh, no reason." She said with a big, fake smile. "I need to.. um.. be going now!" She turned and got a grand total of ONE step further.
A hand clamped firmly on her shoulder.
"Nice try, little missy." She groaned, and turned.
"Come ON Sano! Let me go!"
"Why?"
"Well, Hiko never said to keep me!"
"Yes, but he gave you to Battousai, and that means that he kinda makes the rules now." Kaoru bristled. Sano got a little worried.
"I AM PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF DECIDING THINGS FOR MYSELF! I AM A SENTINENT BEING! I AM NOT SOME OBJECT TO HAVE AND GIVE AND ORDER AROUND! NOW LET ME GO SANOSUKE SAGARA BEFORE I BITE YOU SO HARD YOU'LL WISH YOU DIDN'T HAVE A LEFT HAND!" She screeched.
Sano shook his head, as much to say 'no' as to clear the ringing in his ears.
"You're making a scene, missy. Now shut up and come on." He dragged a complaining, crying, fighting, biting, clawing Kaoru back to the apartment.
Sano opened the door and shoved her inside. And then he turned to the newcomers, pushing Kaoru away every time she lunged at him. It was actually bordering between amusing and very sad.
"Hey, Aoshi. Misao. Nice to – OOMPH! – See you again." He said, rubbing the side of his stomach, where he'd just taken a rather powerful punch from Kaoru. "Go on in, Just make sure Racoon-girl doesn't decapitate you." He said helpfully, shoving a snarling Kaoru away. She had a very homocidal thing going on again. Sano went in and the other two followed, closing the door firmly. Aoshi remembered the locking sequence, and so he actually went to the trouble of locking the door.
Sano forced Kaoru to sit down, ignoring the fact that she was biting him hard enough to raise welts, stopping just shy of drawing blood.
He had a sudden flashback of when he had beem babysitting Kaoru when she was about six.
::: "I don't WAANNTTT you to go, DADDDEEEE!!" A wailing girl sobbed, latching onto her father's leg.
"Sanosuke, get her off of me." He did as ordered, holding a girl, who was struggling with tooth and nail to get back to her father.
"Alright. I can't hold her for long, Mr. Kamiya."
"I'll be back sometime tonight." And her father vanished out the door. If anything, this put Kaoru into an even worse frenzy. So Sano forced her to sit down,:::
just as he was now.
"Kaoru,"
:::"Kaoru,":::
"If you don't stop"
:::"If you don't stop this, right now,":::
"I'm gonna"
:::"I'm gonna have to":::
"Tell"
:::"Tell":::
"Battousai."
:::"Your father.":::
Kaoru froze, just as she had when he'd threatened to tell her father about her behavior. She stared up at him, with a 'doe-caught-in-headlights' look in her eyes.
"You wouldn't!"
"Yes, I would." This conversation, though, was very different from when she was six. She'd just cried, then.
And so, of course, she burst into tears.
"I don't WANT to stay here!" She sobbed.
"Miss Kaoru," Misao spoke up suddenly.
"Yes?" She turned, blinking away tears unsuccessfully.
"What has Battousai done to you, that has made you not want to stay here?"
"He's threatened to hurt me," She said slowly.
"But has he DONE anything?" Kaoru thought carefully, and realized something.
"No."
"Then why do you want to leave so badly?"
"Especially when your father hates you so much? At least now you're with someone who wants you." Kaoru stared at Sano and Misao, and slowly nodded.
"But.. I don't like being kept a prisioner!"
"No one does." Misao soothed. "But I'm sure that soon you won't be a 'prisioner'. Especially since Battousai asked for you. That means that-" Sano hushed her with a look.
"Means what?"
"That Misao talks to much." Came a soft, emotionless voice. At first, Kaoru was afraid it was Battousai. But it wasn't.
"Aoshi!" Misao complained.
Kaoru's mind reacted instantly to the name. 'Aoshi Shinomourai. Where have I seen him before?' And then it clicked. She blurted it out without even thinking.
"Hey, you used to be the paperboy for my block! You used to throw the paper through my window every morning." Aoshi stared at her. He opened his mouth. Sano beat him to it.
"Don't bother asking. Apparently she has connections to everyone. I used to babysit her. I can't believe she still remembers EITHER of us. But she does. It's scary." Kaoru pouted. Misao laughed. Aoshi stared.
Finally, Kaoru broke the silence.
"Um. You guys aren't going to tell Battousai, are you?"
"Tell me what?" Battousai asked, coming in the door as he took off his coat. There was blood all over his face, and a small cut over his left eyebrow.
A/N: Hmmm. A bit of a cliffie this time. Is everyone gonna give her up, or keep her safe from Battousai's anger? Will she try to get away again? I'm sorry if this chapter was confusing. I kind of ran out of ideas. Because I need to get a few 'lead-in' chapters done, so I can really bring the plot to life. ^-^
Kenshin: Kami-sama forbid.
Dove: Grr. Y'know, I STILL have a headache from that Zanbatou!
Kenshin: *Stares at all the empty Tylenol bottles* You don't say..
Dove: Okay. Replies to reviewers.. oh, yeah, and for chapter 9, you have to give me.. umm.. 124 reviews! ^-^ I'm sure y'all can do it! I'm amazed that I already hit a hundred. I've always been so jealous of all of those people that can hit 100 and up..
Here's a little hint about the next chapter: Kaoru's going to have a nightmare, and her Leukemia is going to suddenly start getting very malevolent. ^-^
Sailor Scout Buddy – I might write a sequel.. it depends on how the original ends. ^-^
CurlsofSerenity – Yeah, this is a funny fan-manga. I read it a long time ago, and loved it. I sure wish they'd update! Wow. I'm.. um.. glad you liked that.. Lol..
Angie – Thank you!
Angie – Thanks again! ^-^
Ferai – Thank you so very much! I am totally and completely gratified. Thanks! I'm glad SOMEONE likes my authors notes that I work so hard on.. ^_-
LunaAngel – I'm getting a little worried here.. *Grin* What's 6 times 12? ^-^
Konton - *Eyes rope warily* Um.. thanks! ^-^
Daine – Thank you! ^-^ I'll send you a party invite soon! ^_-
Namiko The Anime Wizard – Well, thank you very much!! I'm glad you want me to continue. ^_-
Baka-Ryu – *Afraid* Oh. Um. Okay. I'll send you a party invite soon, too! *Sweatdrop. Puts Kenshin in front of herself. Whisper.* [Hope you remember how to block a Gotatsu strike.. or things might get ugly.. ^-^]
The party is gonna be held on email, and the I'm going to put what we write for the party in my author's notes. ^-^ Okay-dokay then. *Cries* Thank you for all of the wonderful fabulous stupendous reviews!!!
"Hey, Lord Aoshi! Where're we goin'? Huh? Huh? Huh? HUH? HEY LORD AOSHI!"
That girl was so annoying. She was loud, persistant, irritating, had an annoying voice, and really did resemble a weasel.
"LORD AOSHI, WAIT UP!"
And that was why he loved her. He stopped and waited.
"We're going to visit Battousai." He was an old friend of Aoshi's. Actually, they were rivals for a while there. But now they were friends. So they were going to visit him. "Any oher questions?"
"Oh, GOODY! Himura is so much fun to annoy!" Aoshi chuckled, thinking of how angry he'd gotten and how close it had came to bloodshed that one last time they had visited. It shocked them both. He coughed in an attempt to cover the almost-laugh. Misao practically floated. After a few minutes, she got over it.
"Well. WHAT'RE WE WAITING AROUND FOR, LORD AOSHI! LET'S GO!" And they did.
Kaoru woke up to the smell of spaghetti sauce. Her stomach growled softly at her, warning her that it was, in fact, beginning to get really hungry.
"Took you long enough." A voice snarled. She opened her eyes, and sat straight up. Of course, she forgot that she was on a couch.
And therefore, when she made that incredibly speedy movement, she had the natural grace to fall right off of the couch and directly onto the 'oh-so-soft' carpet below.
"Ow." Was her brilliant comment. Kaoru groaned. She could FEEL Battousai's smirk. "Don't even GO there." She grumbled, standing up after a short argument with the blanket she found herself wrapped in.
Battousai watched her fight the blanket off, almost-smiling. She'd looked cold, so he'd put it on her. Of course, he wasn't going to TELL her that.
Kaoru, who had finally gotten free of the blanket and then thrown it across the room for aggrivating her, watched him warily as she sat on the couch. Then she noticed a missing prescence.
"Where's Fluffers?"
"Sano took him on his way out."
"Why did Sano leave?"
"He had a mission. I do, as well." That was when Kaoru realized that Battousai was in his full 'uniform'. He'd added a few pieces from when he'd kidnapped her. Such as wrist-guards, boots, a chest plate, and a second sword. A glance from the corner of her eye confirmed that the smaller sword, as well as the larger one, had both been taken from the rack.
And he had the scar in full view. Remembering what he'd said to her just after he'd kidnapped her..
He was going out to kill tonight.
"You're going to murder someone." She said softly.
"Yes." Kaoru was surprised. She expected him to yell at her for using that word and say that he preferred 'assassinate'. It was strange, because he hadn't ACTUALLY yelled at her at all, not even when he'd kidnapped her.
Battousai saw her surprise, confusion, and then embarressment. Perhaps he needed to teach her how to guard her emotions some, her eyes were so unsheilded that he could see right through her.
"Dinner is on the table, it should still be hot. I will be back late." He said without looking at her. He stood, and pulled his black leather duster on over his outfit, making sure the swords were completely covered.
"Okay." She said calmly, more awake now. She watched him as he walked.. no, that wasn't the right word. Flowed, to the door. His movements were so incredibly graceful that every time she watched him it was as though she was observing a ballet.
Battousai failed to notice something. He knew her eyes were on him, but he made one crucial error. He did not shield the keypad from her eyes.
Kaoru watched his fingers, memorizing the numbers he hit. 'Six, three, one, four, nine, seven, two, five'
"I'll be back later." And then he was gone. Kaoru heard a click that indicated a lock being activated. She went over to the food. Her head was spinning. To much hunger. So, she ate. And was surprised – she'd expected Battousai to have culinary skills about as good as hers.
But not only was his food edible, it tasted fantastic. Perhaps she was just hungry. Kaoru finished quickly, and washed her plate, putting it away neatly after a five-minute search for the right cabinet.
And then she went to the door. Finally, she could leave. So what if she actually kind of liked Batto- blast it! She kept forgetting to call him Kenshin. But.. he just didn't SEEM like a Kenshin.
Kaoru decided to give this lovely internal argument up. She typed the numbers into the keypad, hoping with everything she had that she'd remembered the right combination. When the door clicked open, she nearly fell down from the sheer relief. She hurried out, closing the door carefully behind her. And then she turned and headed for the stairs.
"Hey, YOU! What do you think you're doing!?" She froze mid-step. Only four steps away from Kenshin's apartment. SO BLOODY CLOSE. She turned, and didn't recognize the people looking at her.
They both had dark hair. The man was tall, and had a dangerous glint in his eyes that almost matched Battousai's. The girl was small, with a vibrant aura and a long braid.
"Oh. Hello." She smiled.
"Why are you coming out of Himura's apartment?" Kaoru cursed the gods with everything she could possibly think of. Of COURSE these people should know Battousai.
"Oh, no reason." She said with a big, fake smile. "I need to.. um.. be going now!" She turned and got a grand total of ONE step further.
A hand clamped firmly on her shoulder.
"Nice try, little missy." She groaned, and turned.
"Come ON Sano! Let me go!"
"Why?"
"Well, Hiko never said to keep me!"
"Yes, but he gave you to Battousai, and that means that he kinda makes the rules now." Kaoru bristled. Sano got a little worried.
"I AM PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF DECIDING THINGS FOR MYSELF! I AM A SENTINENT BEING! I AM NOT SOME OBJECT TO HAVE AND GIVE AND ORDER AROUND! NOW LET ME GO SANOSUKE SAGARA BEFORE I BITE YOU SO HARD YOU'LL WISH YOU DIDN'T HAVE A LEFT HAND!" She screeched.
Sano shook his head, as much to say 'no' as to clear the ringing in his ears.
"You're making a scene, missy. Now shut up and come on." He dragged a complaining, crying, fighting, biting, clawing Kaoru back to the apartment.
Sano opened the door and shoved her inside. And then he turned to the newcomers, pushing Kaoru away every time she lunged at him. It was actually bordering between amusing and very sad.
"Hey, Aoshi. Misao. Nice to – OOMPH! – See you again." He said, rubbing the side of his stomach, where he'd just taken a rather powerful punch from Kaoru. "Go on in, Just make sure Racoon-girl doesn't decapitate you." He said helpfully, shoving a snarling Kaoru away. She had a very homocidal thing going on again. Sano went in and the other two followed, closing the door firmly. Aoshi remembered the locking sequence, and so he actually went to the trouble of locking the door.
Sano forced Kaoru to sit down, ignoring the fact that she was biting him hard enough to raise welts, stopping just shy of drawing blood.
He had a sudden flashback of when he had beem babysitting Kaoru when she was about six.
::: "I don't WAANNTTT you to go, DADDDEEEE!!" A wailing girl sobbed, latching onto her father's leg.
"Sanosuke, get her off of me." He did as ordered, holding a girl, who was struggling with tooth and nail to get back to her father.
"Alright. I can't hold her for long, Mr. Kamiya."
"I'll be back sometime tonight." And her father vanished out the door. If anything, this put Kaoru into an even worse frenzy. So Sano forced her to sit down,:::
just as he was now.
"Kaoru,"
:::"Kaoru,":::
"If you don't stop"
:::"If you don't stop this, right now,":::
"I'm gonna"
:::"I'm gonna have to":::
"Tell"
:::"Tell":::
"Battousai."
:::"Your father.":::
Kaoru froze, just as she had when he'd threatened to tell her father about her behavior. She stared up at him, with a 'doe-caught-in-headlights' look in her eyes.
"You wouldn't!"
"Yes, I would." This conversation, though, was very different from when she was six. She'd just cried, then.
And so, of course, she burst into tears.
"I don't WANT to stay here!" She sobbed.
"Miss Kaoru," Misao spoke up suddenly.
"Yes?" She turned, blinking away tears unsuccessfully.
"What has Battousai done to you, that has made you not want to stay here?"
"He's threatened to hurt me," She said slowly.
"But has he DONE anything?" Kaoru thought carefully, and realized something.
"No."
"Then why do you want to leave so badly?"
"Especially when your father hates you so much? At least now you're with someone who wants you." Kaoru stared at Sano and Misao, and slowly nodded.
"But.. I don't like being kept a prisioner!"
"No one does." Misao soothed. "But I'm sure that soon you won't be a 'prisioner'. Especially since Battousai asked for you. That means that-" Sano hushed her with a look.
"Means what?"
"That Misao talks to much." Came a soft, emotionless voice. At first, Kaoru was afraid it was Battousai. But it wasn't.
"Aoshi!" Misao complained.
Kaoru's mind reacted instantly to the name. 'Aoshi Shinomourai. Where have I seen him before?' And then it clicked. She blurted it out without even thinking.
"Hey, you used to be the paperboy for my block! You used to throw the paper through my window every morning." Aoshi stared at her. He opened his mouth. Sano beat him to it.
"Don't bother asking. Apparently she has connections to everyone. I used to babysit her. I can't believe she still remembers EITHER of us. But she does. It's scary." Kaoru pouted. Misao laughed. Aoshi stared.
Finally, Kaoru broke the silence.
"Um. You guys aren't going to tell Battousai, are you?"
"Tell me what?" Battousai asked, coming in the door as he took off his coat. There was blood all over his face, and a small cut over his left eyebrow.
A/N: Hmmm. A bit of a cliffie this time. Is everyone gonna give her up, or keep her safe from Battousai's anger? Will she try to get away again? I'm sorry if this chapter was confusing. I kind of ran out of ideas. Because I need to get a few 'lead-in' chapters done, so I can really bring the plot to life. ^-^
Kenshin: Kami-sama forbid.
Dove: Grr. Y'know, I STILL have a headache from that Zanbatou!
Kenshin: *Stares at all the empty Tylenol bottles* You don't say..
Dove: Okay. Replies to reviewers.. oh, yeah, and for chapter 9, you have to give me.. umm.. 124 reviews! ^-^ I'm sure y'all can do it! I'm amazed that I already hit a hundred. I've always been so jealous of all of those people that can hit 100 and up..
Here's a little hint about the next chapter: Kaoru's going to have a nightmare, and her Leukemia is going to suddenly start getting very malevolent. ^-^
Sailor Scout Buddy – I might write a sequel.. it depends on how the original ends. ^-^
CurlsofSerenity – Yeah, this is a funny fan-manga. I read it a long time ago, and loved it. I sure wish they'd update! Wow. I'm.. um.. glad you liked that.. Lol..
Angie – Thank you!
Angie – Thanks again! ^-^
Ferai – Thank you so very much! I am totally and completely gratified. Thanks! I'm glad SOMEONE likes my authors notes that I work so hard on.. ^_-
LunaAngel – I'm getting a little worried here.. *Grin* What's 6 times 12? ^-^
Konton - *Eyes rope warily* Um.. thanks! ^-^
Daine – Thank you! ^-^ I'll send you a party invite soon! ^_-
Namiko The Anime Wizard – Well, thank you very much!! I'm glad you want me to continue. ^_-
Baka-Ryu – *Afraid* Oh. Um. Okay. I'll send you a party invite soon, too! *Sweatdrop. Puts Kenshin in front of herself. Whisper.* [Hope you remember how to block a Gotatsu strike.. or things might get ugly.. ^-^]
The party is gonna be held on email, and the I'm going to put what we write for the party in my author's notes. ^-^ Okay-dokay then. *Cries* Thank you for all of the wonderful fabulous stupendous reviews!!!