A/N:
Hello, My faithful readers. I'm sooo sorry this took me so long! Thank you for all of the time you have invested in reading Dark. But the story seems to be failing. Don't worry! I'm not going to just quit. But Dark will soon be ending. You can look forward to a sequel, don't worry! On that happy note.. what else.. Ah. About Kaoru's injuries: She is running on pure adrenaline. I know for a fact that when you are on an adrenaline rush fueled by the fact that your horrible father is alive, you are fighting, and you are terrified that you do not feel pain. So for the moment, she doesn't even remember her injuries. What else.. Oh! Thank you to all of my spendid reviewers! I LOVE to get up in the morning, check my mail, and find 15 or so reviews. It really does wonders for writers block. ^-^
Anyone else reading WHEN THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND YOU by Chiki? That is such a saadddd story! It was fantastic and semi-happy until the last chapter.. I sobbed for 5 minutes straight! So that may somehow affect the angst level of this chapter. And I'm really sick (PHYSICALLY, fools!), so this may not ALL make sense, and there may be some mistakes. I apologize in advance.
No funny authors note this time. I'm to tired.
Dark
Chapter Twenty-Eight
~~
Soujiro' s POV
~~
It was dark. Readlly, really dark. I'm not afraid of much. Only dark, and tight spaces. The full effects of my clausterphobia had aclready passed, so I could breath now.
I was grinning so hard by the time an hour had passed, that I knew I looked a sight. Pale face, huge eyes, grin stretched to the point of breaking my mouth.
I knew that I still had about two hours left to live – on average. Hey, I was in Shishio's little group for about 16 years, you know!
Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to call Battousai before my cellphone went out of range and died. Which was about two feet later.
I never did like 'Death By Box'. The DBB lacked honor in my opinion. How ironic that I would become one of it's many victims.
I was kinda sad that I wouldn't be able to make a stronger bond between Kaoru and I. But it was for the better, Makoto's organization didn't know of our blood bond. She would be safe. Mostly.
I hoped that Battousai had won. I'd been knocked out just as he and Shishio had gotten into their battle-stances.
I'm so tired.. maybe I'll sleep through my suffocation! Gosh.. I hope so..
~~
It took the better part of 15 minutes to coax Rumor back into Kaoru. But it was accomplished. Battousai dropped the last two swords of his extended arsenal out of his sword belt. With only his Wakizashi and Katana once more, he explained exactly what had happened to Soujiro. From what he knew.
The instant Kaoru processed her brother's fate, she was out the door and running.
Battousai had another call to make – regarding Koshijirou's 'ressurection' act. So he let her go. It wasn't as though she could run to lake Nagasaki.
((I made that lake up!))
It was almost 30 miles away, and positioned in the middle of nowhere. And besides, she was injured. Rumor had noticed it.
***
Kaoru felt a pair of arms go around her waist, and she was jerked into an alley. At first she thought it was Kenshin and semi-relaxed. She wasn't sure if he was still Battousai.
And then she realized that the arms were way, WAY to tall to be his and panicked.
Her captor spun her roughly, and she found herself staring into the frightening eyes of Hajime Saitou. He had a painfully tight grip on her upper arms. The wolfish man took a step backwards and Kaoru was forced to go with him.
She matched him step-for-step until they reached the back wall at the end of the alley.
"Let me go!" She attempted. NOT as demanding as she'd been hoping..
"Or what? You shouldn't have left your protector, he's still at that building."
Kaoru felt herself trembling. He jerked her another step forward and she winced as she quickly switched legs, off of her injured ankle.
"Who is going to protect your pathetic hide NOW?"
"Her OTHER protector!" A fist smashed into Saitou's jaw and he went flying, loosing Kaoru in the process. She remained standing, her knees shaking.
A white cloth obscured her vision.
"Hey, missy. Almost outran me!" Relief snatched the breath from Kaoru's lungs. Sano turned back to Saitou. "Hey, wolfy! Don't go dissin' on missy, she's one-a-da bravest chicks I know!"
"Then you must not know many." Saitou retorted, spitting out some blood. Rubbing his jaw angrily, he whipped a sword out of it's sheath.
Kaoru hadn't even noticed that he'd been armed. 'Brilliant. Just BRILLIANT.' She berated herself bitterly.
Saitou dropped into a strange stance, blade arched over his head, fingertips level with it's point.
"GATOTSU!" He announced as he seemed to vanish.
"He moves like Kenshin!" Kaoru cried, shock obvious in her tone.
Sano cleanly side-stepped the attack. And realized a split-second later that it was not intended to actually strike.
Kaoru had taken to leaning against a wall, deciding that it was better than the alternative of falling. That Gatotsu struck inches from her left temple.
Doing what any respectable girl would do, Kaoru screamed. Saitou removed his blade from the wall, and caught hold of her wrist. Moving like lightening, he had Kaoru pinned to him. His arm was wrapped securely around her waist.
"Sano!" She cried, panicked. Sano heard the helplessness in her tone, and hated it with all of his being. She was not supposed to sound like that. Saitou needed a slow and painful death for making her sound so tiny.
The blade traced down her cheekbone slowly, a very sharp edge stopping just shy of breaking the skin. The carress was feathery-light and reminded her of when she first met Kenshin. Tears filled her eyes. Looking to Sano once more in a silent plea for him to get her away from Saitou, she blinked.They spilled over, dashing down her cheeks. The blade made it's way to her throat and stopped, cold steel against warm flesh.
"Let's see how brave she is bleeding to death on the cement." Kaoru's blood ran cold. She didn't even think, but her body still reacted.
She slammed her left elbow into his stomach, causing his grip on her to release, while reaching up with her left hand to grab the dull base of the weapon. She pished, shoving it away from her throat. Then she dropped, rolled, and leapt to her feet.
Saitou blinked a few times and she ran behind Sano and peeked around him, eyes wide on her pale face.
"Well. THAT was intresting." He decided. Kaoru gave a sigh of relief as soon as she was safe behind Sanosuke.
"Alright, Roosterhead. Bring it." Saitou challanged. He launched another Gatotsu as Sano preformed the Futaenokiwami. Saitou blade boke. The snapped end spun crazily through the air and buried it's self in Sano's leg. As his blood poured, Sano growled, and announced,
"Your weapon is broken. Beat it. Go! SCRAM!" Saitou growled right back. But he couldn't fight without a good blade. So he tossed what was left of the bottom of the blade and the hilt to the ground.
"Another time, rooster."
"Count on it, Wolf." He left.
Sano fell, landing on his knees. "Ow.."
Kaoru knelt next to him.
"So.. Sano.. you do this for all the kids you babysit?" She asked as she kept her eyes tightly shut.
"Naw. You're special." He replied through clenched teeth as he pulled the blade out of his leg.
Kaoru heard footfalls approaching quickly. She tilted her face away from Sano's blood and looked towards the newcomer.
Battousai had heard a female scream. He'd taken off running, and now smelled blood.
He skidded into the alley-way where the smell was the strongest. Kaoru was kneeling next to the bleeding Sano, staring up at him with huge eyes and a pale face.
Good, she was okay. The rooster-like man was not, however.
"Hey, Kenshin." He managed to grit out. "Want to call Megumi for me?" Kenshin nodded and did as his colleage asked.
And then he saw the hilt of the opposing blade. Call ended, he snapped his cell shut and stalked over to the broken half of the sword. He inspected it closely, before he swore violently and spun, eyes angry.
Kaoru was still kneeling, Sano had moved and was leaning against a wall to her right, eyes closed.
"Did Saitou attack you again?" He asked. Kaoru mumbled something. "I asked you a QUESTION, Kaoru!" She lowered her head. She so much prefered Kenshin. 'Why does speaking to the Battousai always make me feel like a foolish wimp?' She wondered.
Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and yanked her to her feet.
"I SAID did-"
"Yes, Kenshin. He did. Not calm your temper and stop taking your anger and frustration out on Missy before I Futaenokiwami you're a**." Sano replied for her, eyes still shut.
Battousai took a few calming breaths, softening his grip. He was being extremely harsh, and she was shaking like a leaf, eyes tightly shut. He'd bene treating her like a criminal he was interrogating or something.
And he wanted her to trust him. THAT was the way to go about it. Yeah, right. In the cave man era.
He softened his grip even more.
"Alright. I'm sorry, Kaoru." She nodded, face still pale, and opened her eyes. He let her go as soon as he was sure she wouldn't fall.
"Kaoru, we have an hour to save Soujiro. Come on." Without a second through, she took the hand he offered. He took off running, and she did her best to keep up with him.
'He actually seemed genuinly sorry for his actions.. and DANG he's got a TIGHT grip!'
They reached Kenshin's car, which had been brought for him, in record time. They leapt in and took off. This time, it was Kaoru who was afraid for her life. It was like a scene from a police chase or something. Kaoru and her seatbelt became best of friends. Terrified white became her new skin color.
After 25 harrowing minutes of the roller-coaster ride, it was over and they were at Lake Nagasaki. The NUMA team had found Soujiro's box, but their equipment was not advanced or strong enough to lift it, even in water.
For some reason, they hadn't even brought any diving equipment, figuring that their excavation equipment would be more than enough.
Kaoru felt her eyes filling with tears, and for the second time that day, almost started bawling. And then she saw Kenshin walk by wearing only a pair of boxers, his clothes folded neatly on the ground.
'Answers the age-old question..' Kaoru through randomly. 'Thank GOD the answer isn't 'neither'..'
Cool as ice, Battousai walked to the edge of the hastily-made pier and bent his knees. Then he pushed off and dove in, swimming powerfully, straight down. His eyes were squinted so he could see through the sea-green water.
The box was incredibly small, and made of a severely thick metal. Looking around, Kenshin saw two identical boxes.
He wasn't sure Soujiro was in the one he was at.. so he knocked.
~~
Soujiro's POV
~~
I tried to crack my neck. I succeeded, but hit my head in the process. I split my wound open again. That hurt.
I had taken up singing to alleviate the boredom before my death. I Was on 42 bottles of Sake. Starting at 6,000. And then I heard a muffled banging on my box.
Immediately, I banged back. Then I heard morse code.
Good thing I learned that.
'Stay Put and Breath Shallow'.
Just when I'd given up all hope. How fun.
~~
A/N: That's all for now. There is more. But I want to see if I have ANY fans left, and I'm so mierably sick.. Reviews make me feel better, Bribes make Dark better! ^-^ *Collapses*
Kenshin: Not AGAIN!
Sano: *Hiding in the closet* WAY to many people were happy about my losing that bet! Gee, thanks!
Kenshin: …
Soujiro: Geesh! Do I live or die, make up your freakin' mind, Dove-chan!
Dove: ……
Hello, My faithful readers. I'm sooo sorry this took me so long! Thank you for all of the time you have invested in reading Dark. But the story seems to be failing. Don't worry! I'm not going to just quit. But Dark will soon be ending. You can look forward to a sequel, don't worry! On that happy note.. what else.. Ah. About Kaoru's injuries: She is running on pure adrenaline. I know for a fact that when you are on an adrenaline rush fueled by the fact that your horrible father is alive, you are fighting, and you are terrified that you do not feel pain. So for the moment, she doesn't even remember her injuries. What else.. Oh! Thank you to all of my spendid reviewers! I LOVE to get up in the morning, check my mail, and find 15 or so reviews. It really does wonders for writers block. ^-^
Anyone else reading WHEN THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND YOU by Chiki? That is such a saadddd story! It was fantastic and semi-happy until the last chapter.. I sobbed for 5 minutes straight! So that may somehow affect the angst level of this chapter. And I'm really sick (PHYSICALLY, fools!), so this may not ALL make sense, and there may be some mistakes. I apologize in advance.
No funny authors note this time. I'm to tired.
Dark
Chapter Twenty-Eight
~~
Soujiro' s POV
~~
It was dark. Readlly, really dark. I'm not afraid of much. Only dark, and tight spaces. The full effects of my clausterphobia had aclready passed, so I could breath now.
I was grinning so hard by the time an hour had passed, that I knew I looked a sight. Pale face, huge eyes, grin stretched to the point of breaking my mouth.
I knew that I still had about two hours left to live – on average. Hey, I was in Shishio's little group for about 16 years, you know!
Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to call Battousai before my cellphone went out of range and died. Which was about two feet later.
I never did like 'Death By Box'. The DBB lacked honor in my opinion. How ironic that I would become one of it's many victims.
I was kinda sad that I wouldn't be able to make a stronger bond between Kaoru and I. But it was for the better, Makoto's organization didn't know of our blood bond. She would be safe. Mostly.
I hoped that Battousai had won. I'd been knocked out just as he and Shishio had gotten into their battle-stances.
I'm so tired.. maybe I'll sleep through my suffocation! Gosh.. I hope so..
~~
It took the better part of 15 minutes to coax Rumor back into Kaoru. But it was accomplished. Battousai dropped the last two swords of his extended arsenal out of his sword belt. With only his Wakizashi and Katana once more, he explained exactly what had happened to Soujiro. From what he knew.
The instant Kaoru processed her brother's fate, she was out the door and running.
Battousai had another call to make – regarding Koshijirou's 'ressurection' act. So he let her go. It wasn't as though she could run to lake Nagasaki.
((I made that lake up!))
It was almost 30 miles away, and positioned in the middle of nowhere. And besides, she was injured. Rumor had noticed it.
***
Kaoru felt a pair of arms go around her waist, and she was jerked into an alley. At first she thought it was Kenshin and semi-relaxed. She wasn't sure if he was still Battousai.
And then she realized that the arms were way, WAY to tall to be his and panicked.
Her captor spun her roughly, and she found herself staring into the frightening eyes of Hajime Saitou. He had a painfully tight grip on her upper arms. The wolfish man took a step backwards and Kaoru was forced to go with him.
She matched him step-for-step until they reached the back wall at the end of the alley.
"Let me go!" She attempted. NOT as demanding as she'd been hoping..
"Or what? You shouldn't have left your protector, he's still at that building."
Kaoru felt herself trembling. He jerked her another step forward and she winced as she quickly switched legs, off of her injured ankle.
"Who is going to protect your pathetic hide NOW?"
"Her OTHER protector!" A fist smashed into Saitou's jaw and he went flying, loosing Kaoru in the process. She remained standing, her knees shaking.
A white cloth obscured her vision.
"Hey, missy. Almost outran me!" Relief snatched the breath from Kaoru's lungs. Sano turned back to Saitou. "Hey, wolfy! Don't go dissin' on missy, she's one-a-da bravest chicks I know!"
"Then you must not know many." Saitou retorted, spitting out some blood. Rubbing his jaw angrily, he whipped a sword out of it's sheath.
Kaoru hadn't even noticed that he'd been armed. 'Brilliant. Just BRILLIANT.' She berated herself bitterly.
Saitou dropped into a strange stance, blade arched over his head, fingertips level with it's point.
"GATOTSU!" He announced as he seemed to vanish.
"He moves like Kenshin!" Kaoru cried, shock obvious in her tone.
Sano cleanly side-stepped the attack. And realized a split-second later that it was not intended to actually strike.
Kaoru had taken to leaning against a wall, deciding that it was better than the alternative of falling. That Gatotsu struck inches from her left temple.
Doing what any respectable girl would do, Kaoru screamed. Saitou removed his blade from the wall, and caught hold of her wrist. Moving like lightening, he had Kaoru pinned to him. His arm was wrapped securely around her waist.
"Sano!" She cried, panicked. Sano heard the helplessness in her tone, and hated it with all of his being. She was not supposed to sound like that. Saitou needed a slow and painful death for making her sound so tiny.
The blade traced down her cheekbone slowly, a very sharp edge stopping just shy of breaking the skin. The carress was feathery-light and reminded her of when she first met Kenshin. Tears filled her eyes. Looking to Sano once more in a silent plea for him to get her away from Saitou, she blinked.They spilled over, dashing down her cheeks. The blade made it's way to her throat and stopped, cold steel against warm flesh.
"Let's see how brave she is bleeding to death on the cement." Kaoru's blood ran cold. She didn't even think, but her body still reacted.
She slammed her left elbow into his stomach, causing his grip on her to release, while reaching up with her left hand to grab the dull base of the weapon. She pished, shoving it away from her throat. Then she dropped, rolled, and leapt to her feet.
Saitou blinked a few times and she ran behind Sano and peeked around him, eyes wide on her pale face.
"Well. THAT was intresting." He decided. Kaoru gave a sigh of relief as soon as she was safe behind Sanosuke.
"Alright, Roosterhead. Bring it." Saitou challanged. He launched another Gatotsu as Sano preformed the Futaenokiwami. Saitou blade boke. The snapped end spun crazily through the air and buried it's self in Sano's leg. As his blood poured, Sano growled, and announced,
"Your weapon is broken. Beat it. Go! SCRAM!" Saitou growled right back. But he couldn't fight without a good blade. So he tossed what was left of the bottom of the blade and the hilt to the ground.
"Another time, rooster."
"Count on it, Wolf." He left.
Sano fell, landing on his knees. "Ow.."
Kaoru knelt next to him.
"So.. Sano.. you do this for all the kids you babysit?" She asked as she kept her eyes tightly shut.
"Naw. You're special." He replied through clenched teeth as he pulled the blade out of his leg.
Kaoru heard footfalls approaching quickly. She tilted her face away from Sano's blood and looked towards the newcomer.
Battousai had heard a female scream. He'd taken off running, and now smelled blood.
He skidded into the alley-way where the smell was the strongest. Kaoru was kneeling next to the bleeding Sano, staring up at him with huge eyes and a pale face.
Good, she was okay. The rooster-like man was not, however.
"Hey, Kenshin." He managed to grit out. "Want to call Megumi for me?" Kenshin nodded and did as his colleage asked.
And then he saw the hilt of the opposing blade. Call ended, he snapped his cell shut and stalked over to the broken half of the sword. He inspected it closely, before he swore violently and spun, eyes angry.
Kaoru was still kneeling, Sano had moved and was leaning against a wall to her right, eyes closed.
"Did Saitou attack you again?" He asked. Kaoru mumbled something. "I asked you a QUESTION, Kaoru!" She lowered her head. She so much prefered Kenshin. 'Why does speaking to the Battousai always make me feel like a foolish wimp?' She wondered.
Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and yanked her to her feet.
"I SAID did-"
"Yes, Kenshin. He did. Not calm your temper and stop taking your anger and frustration out on Missy before I Futaenokiwami you're a**." Sano replied for her, eyes still shut.
Battousai took a few calming breaths, softening his grip. He was being extremely harsh, and she was shaking like a leaf, eyes tightly shut. He'd bene treating her like a criminal he was interrogating or something.
And he wanted her to trust him. THAT was the way to go about it. Yeah, right. In the cave man era.
He softened his grip even more.
"Alright. I'm sorry, Kaoru." She nodded, face still pale, and opened her eyes. He let her go as soon as he was sure she wouldn't fall.
"Kaoru, we have an hour to save Soujiro. Come on." Without a second through, she took the hand he offered. He took off running, and she did her best to keep up with him.
'He actually seemed genuinly sorry for his actions.. and DANG he's got a TIGHT grip!'
They reached Kenshin's car, which had been brought for him, in record time. They leapt in and took off. This time, it was Kaoru who was afraid for her life. It was like a scene from a police chase or something. Kaoru and her seatbelt became best of friends. Terrified white became her new skin color.
After 25 harrowing minutes of the roller-coaster ride, it was over and they were at Lake Nagasaki. The NUMA team had found Soujiro's box, but their equipment was not advanced or strong enough to lift it, even in water.
For some reason, they hadn't even brought any diving equipment, figuring that their excavation equipment would be more than enough.
Kaoru felt her eyes filling with tears, and for the second time that day, almost started bawling. And then she saw Kenshin walk by wearing only a pair of boxers, his clothes folded neatly on the ground.
'Answers the age-old question..' Kaoru through randomly. 'Thank GOD the answer isn't 'neither'..'
Cool as ice, Battousai walked to the edge of the hastily-made pier and bent his knees. Then he pushed off and dove in, swimming powerfully, straight down. His eyes were squinted so he could see through the sea-green water.
The box was incredibly small, and made of a severely thick metal. Looking around, Kenshin saw two identical boxes.
He wasn't sure Soujiro was in the one he was at.. so he knocked.
~~
Soujiro's POV
~~
I tried to crack my neck. I succeeded, but hit my head in the process. I split my wound open again. That hurt.
I had taken up singing to alleviate the boredom before my death. I Was on 42 bottles of Sake. Starting at 6,000. And then I heard a muffled banging on my box.
Immediately, I banged back. Then I heard morse code.
Good thing I learned that.
'Stay Put and Breath Shallow'.
Just when I'd given up all hope. How fun.
~~
A/N: That's all for now. There is more. But I want to see if I have ANY fans left, and I'm so mierably sick.. Reviews make me feel better, Bribes make Dark better! ^-^ *Collapses*
Kenshin: Not AGAIN!
Sano: *Hiding in the closet* WAY to many people were happy about my losing that bet! Gee, thanks!
Kenshin: …
Soujiro: Geesh! Do I live or die, make up your freakin' mind, Dove-chan!
Dove: ……