A/N:
Dove: …
Kenshin: She's.. very depressed.
Sano: And not just about the story.
Soujiro: She's sad because-
Dove: Shut. Up.
All:..okay..
Dove: I will have some extended A/Ns at the end. Read. Enjoy. I'll miss you all.
Sano: How did you all do it? HOW DID YOU BREAK 1000 REVIEWS?!
Kenshin:…magic..
Dark
Chapter Thirty
It had been two days. Tsubame had cooked dinner for them, helped the injured, and given Sano his pain medication faithfully. Kaoru had to admit that the little girl was incredibly sweet and patient.
Kaoru herself had very little pain medication, she had a reasonable tolerance. Kenshin was depressed and severely withdrawn. Kaoru made it a point to bash him upside the head with a pillow at least once a day.
At exactly twelve O'clock on Monday afternoon, the phone rang.
"What?" Kenshin's greeting had not improved much. He listened, and then nodded. And then flushed, realizing that the other person could not see him. "Yeah, I got it. See ya then."
"What is it?" Kaoru asked as Kenshin hung the phone up. She heard Soujiro, Sano, and Tsubame playing a rousing game of pok- go fish - in the livingroom.
"Hiko wants to meet me and you tonight. At the Doozo Yoroshiku." Kaoru felt her breath catch. Even though Gohei wasn't a threat.. something about that did not bode well. But she just nodded without comment.
"When?"
"At 5."
"Great. A whole five hours to wonder."
The day went relatively well.
At 4:30, Soujiro announced that he and Tsubame were going to go watch 'Finding Nemo', since Sano had long since crashed after the effects of his.. happy pills.. had gone away.
At 4:35, Kenshin and Kaoru made their way to the car. Kenshin threatened to lock Kaoru in the trunk when she persistantly asked him to allow her to drive.
At 4:57, they arrived at the Doozo Yoroshiku. They made it to the door of Hiko's back room without any problems. And there the real story begins.
***
Kenshin raised a steady hand to knock almost angrily on the door.
"Enter, Battousai. But leave the girl out there." Kenshin gave Kaoru a helpless look. She nodded and he went in, giving the hall one last 'I dare you' glare.
Kaoru immediately pressed her ear to the thin door.
~~
"Hiko. When you saved and renamed me.. what was my name?" Kenshin blurted out before Hiko could say anything.
((Quick note to all of the reviewers that informed me: I knew what his name was. But it's been 20 years for him, I doubt he'd be able to pull it off of the top of his head. Thanks, though!))
"Why are you asking, boy?"
"Please, just answer me, sir."
"Your name was Shinta. Are you happy? Now. About Kaoru. She's become a nuisance."
"W..what?"
"We're going to put a replacement of her in for the money and land.. but I want her dead."
"Surely you don't-"
"I do. I want you to kill her."
"Then why-"
"I want you to kill her now. Go out there, and kill her, Battousai. That's an order."
~~
Kaoru barely managed to muffle her gasp. Surely Kenshin wouldn't.. but Battousai would. She felt a shudder race down her spine.
'Run. Run now. Far and fast.' Her mind ordered sharply.
Kaoru lunged to her feet and took off down the hall, thrashing her way through the people and slamming out the doors into the street.
She acted without any thought. Sano was not going to be there to protect her, he was unconcious in the apartment. Soujiro and Tsubame were at a movie. She had no hope, unless she could defend herself.
And Kaoru had no doubts about who would have the upper hand in that situation. Against the Battousai, all of her skills were useless. She had her doubts that even the mighty Akuma could pull it off.
Kaoru sprinted down an alleyway. She branched into a back street, and then realized how stupid THAT move was and started back towards the main road..
To late.
A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and tossed her lightly, so she fell to the ground, and rolled a few times.
Before she could even stand, Battousai was above her. He stood above her, she was pinned beneath his legs. Should she stand, she'd still be completely out of luck.
"This seems.. familiar.." She tried.
He did not even blink at her voice. He drew his sword coldly, and readied the strike.
Kaoru's blood froze.
'This must be how those victims feel, in their last moments. When they're facing the certain death of Battousai. They look into those golden puddles of emotionless cold.. and can't help but be afraid.'
***
"That was such a CUTE movie!" Tsubame squealed for the third time.
"Yes, it was."
"I loved that air-headed fish!"
"Me too."
"What's wrong, Mr. Soujiro?"
"I'm not sure. Something just feels really.. wrong."
"Oh.. I'm sorry.."
"Oh, it's probably nothing! Don't worry about it."
"Okay!" Tsubame took it upon herself to skip ahead. She was in the middle of the street when she heard the honk. She looked up to see a speeding van bearing down on her, the breaks squealing in a last-ditch effort to avoid the frozen, shocked little girl.
Soujiro did not think. Just reacted. He threw himself forward, slamming into Tsubame.
"Look-" Thump. The van clipped Tsubame, just sending her skidding and leaving her with some cuts. But it hit Soujiro.
He flew through the air, and slammed hard into the pavement. His head connected after his body, rapping sharply. Blood spilled.
Everything was dead silent for a moment.
And then Tsubame screamed.
~~
Kaoru winced as the blade moved to her throat.
"I might as well say this, before I die. I do love you, Kenshin. It's odd, I didn't think I did. And then I didn't. And then I did again. Very strange. But I thought I'd share. I fell in love with you." He faltered. "Okay. You can kill me now."
He blinked, his golden eyes slightly confused.
"Why on earth are you so talkative in the face of death?"
"I figure that if I'm annoying enough, you'll kill me in the most painless, fastest way possible so I'll shut up." Kaoru shot up at her soon-to-be-killer.
"..who are you?"
"You were ordered to kill me, and you didn't ask?"
"No."
"I'm Kaoru."
"I.. know you.. don't I?"
"Yes."
"You.. just said you loved me?"
Kaoru reached up, grabbed Kenshin, and ignoring the blade yanked him off balance. He fell on top of her. Slightly painful, but no metal went through her skin. She kissed him with no hesitation.
Kaoru was not planning on taking her death laying down – funny, since she was – if she could help it.
When she released him. She found a pair of lovely lavender eyes staring into her own.
"I..I was going to KILL you! I didn't remember who you were!"
"That's okay. You know now."
"But.. Hiko.."
"He's a bad guy, Kenshin. You are not. He is."
"What she says is true." Saitou announced as he pretty much appeared from the shadows. Kenshin moved to rise, to protect Kaoru. "Don't worry about it – "
"He's an ally." Aoshi finished.
Very quickly, they explained what Hiko was, how he'd been working with Shishio, and why he wanted Kaoru gone.
"She was to smart, he was afraid of her figuring it out. To late, but that's not the point." Kenshin looked very, very upset about all of this. Kaoru was wondering if he'd like to stand up.
~~
The ambulence was fast to get to the scene. Soujiro was still alive.
Unfortunatly, there was severe trauma to his head. Or, as the paramedics called it, 'TBI' or 'Traumatic Brain Injury'.
Tsubame had gone into shock.
One of the paramedics, a short blonde girl with frightfully blue eyes was sitting next to her, attempting to talk her out of it.
The other two were crouched next to Soujiro, trying to avoid his puddle of blood.
"There's damage to the Cerebral Cortex from the looks of it. We'll have to run a CAT scan, but it looks like the Temporal Lobes may have taken some damage." The taller of the two men announced, examining Soujiro.
"Yeah, I agree." The shorter responded, checking Soujiro's pupils for a response. "It also appears that he may be in a coma or worse. He's not responding."
"How do you think the possiblities are that he has ICP?" (InterCranial Pressure)
"Pretty good. But we can't say for sure just by LOOKING at him, Jaren. Now straighten his neck and get him in the brace, I'm off to get the stretcher."
"Okay." Jaren bent attentivly over Soujiro as his partner rose and headed for the ambulance. "Wonder if they'll give him a coma cocktail?" He called.
"Just because you're head of class in your medical class doesn't mean you have to come up with every thing possible!" His friend yelled back.
"But it sure is fun!" He went back to checking Soujiro's vitals and getting him into position for the stretcher.
((Coma Cocktail: A mix of Thiamin, Glucose, and Naloxene given to coma patients in the hope that it will bring them out of it.))
"Okay, we're missing something."
"How about the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation?" ((Stabilizes patient))
"Yeah.. that could be it." They also tossed in some Antiseizure medication as a procaution, since they didn't know what Soujiro would do.
***
"I'm going to kill him."
"…who?"
"Hiko."
"Why?"
"Because HE ordered ME to kill YOU Kaoru!"
"..and?"
"I can't stand for that!"
"..why not?"
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! Why do you always ask so many blasted questions?" Kaoru fell silent and Kenshin resumed his attentive driving. They were headed back to the apartment, after Aoshi and Saitou told them to do so. Kenshin was to act as though he'd followed orders.
Silence lasted for a few more minutes. And then the ringing of Kenshin's cell broke the silence.
"Yeah?" Silence.. silence.. "WHAT?!" silence.. silence.. "Got it."
He hung up.
"What? WHAT?!" Kaoru cried, a chill racing down her back.
"That was a semi-sober Sano. Tsubame called him from the hospital. Soujiro is there. He is in a deep coma right now, and he's on life support. They've sent in tests to see if he is brain dead or not."
"Well, what are we WAITING for?! DRIVE TO THE HOSPITAL!" And they did. Kenshin gunned it and they sped to the hospital. Very lucky to avoid all of the cops.
"What if one of Hiko's plants sees you?"
"I don't care. Kenshin, that's my big brother!" Kaoru leapt out of the car and ran for the hospital. Tsubame was in the waiting room, a Band-Aid on her cheek where she'd hit after Soujiro had thrown her to the side. A few other small bandages hid her other cuts from sight.
She quickly relayed the tale, and then led them to the ICU.
"Only family, honey." One of the nurses announced, blocking the door to Soujiro's room.
"He's my older brother, her cousin, and his.. brother-in-law."
"Oh! Well, that's okay then." The woman smiled pleasantly and let them pass.
Soujiro was limp on the bed. Kaoru felt tears prick her eyes. He was pale and listless, unable to breath on his own.
She lifted one of his hands into her own and was surprised at how warm it was, he looked dead.
"Oh, Soujiro.. why did you have to be such a good guy?" Kaoru sighed. Tsubame was already sobbing, hiccupping softly. Kenshin stayed back, uncomfortable at the sight of the boy he'd come to think of almost as a little brother laying without any life at all.
There was a soft knock on the door.
Megumi entered. She was a plant from Aoshi's syndicate, and had recognized Tsubame and Soujiro, despite the beating that Soujiro had taken.
She held a chart in her hand, and her face was grim.
"I have the results, as to whether or not Soujiro is brain-dead." She announced.
"AND?!" Kaoru cried, leaping up, Soujiro's hand still clenched in her own.
"Well, he-"
A/N:
Dove: That is it. No, seriously. This is the end of Dark. I have loved you all, and this has been an insane ride. The experience I gained from writing Dark allowed me to win first place in a Short Story – Fantasy contest at my school. About everything that happened to Soujiro.. I looked it up.
Sano: They're all going to kill you, for leaving Soujiro in the balance like that.. to END Dark.
Kenshin: ..really..
Dove:..yeah.. I know.. but if they want to find out, looks like they need to bribe this greedy writer to write a sequel. ^_-
Sano: ..you're awfully cheerful..
Dove: I just feel like being happy.. and to that 'Luna' person that has apparently just discovered Dark.. thank you very much for all of the reviews! She reviewed on like.. every chapter! And look at that – 1000 reviews! DANG!!
Kenshin:..yeah..
Dove: Anyways.. not much to say.. it really has been a nutty ride. All of this stuff that happened.. I still left a lot of loose ends.. but it will all come together in the sequel.
Sano:..if there is one..
Dove:.. we should hope as much…
Sano:.. right..
Kenshin: YOU should hope as much..
Dove: Oh, shut up you two, before I sick my 12 lovely dogs and my 12 fun servants on you! BWAHAHA!
Kenshin:… the gods themselves do tremble..
Dove: Whatever. Anyways, I'll miss you all.. join me again soon for the sequel, 'Silence'!
Sano:.. we hope..
Dove: …
Kenshin: She's.. very depressed.
Sano: And not just about the story.
Soujiro: She's sad because-
Dove: Shut. Up.
All:..okay..
Dove: I will have some extended A/Ns at the end. Read. Enjoy. I'll miss you all.
Sano: How did you all do it? HOW DID YOU BREAK 1000 REVIEWS?!
Kenshin:…magic..
Dark
Chapter Thirty
It had been two days. Tsubame had cooked dinner for them, helped the injured, and given Sano his pain medication faithfully. Kaoru had to admit that the little girl was incredibly sweet and patient.
Kaoru herself had very little pain medication, she had a reasonable tolerance. Kenshin was depressed and severely withdrawn. Kaoru made it a point to bash him upside the head with a pillow at least once a day.
At exactly twelve O'clock on Monday afternoon, the phone rang.
"What?" Kenshin's greeting had not improved much. He listened, and then nodded. And then flushed, realizing that the other person could not see him. "Yeah, I got it. See ya then."
"What is it?" Kaoru asked as Kenshin hung the phone up. She heard Soujiro, Sano, and Tsubame playing a rousing game of pok- go fish - in the livingroom.
"Hiko wants to meet me and you tonight. At the Doozo Yoroshiku." Kaoru felt her breath catch. Even though Gohei wasn't a threat.. something about that did not bode well. But she just nodded without comment.
"When?"
"At 5."
"Great. A whole five hours to wonder."
The day went relatively well.
At 4:30, Soujiro announced that he and Tsubame were going to go watch 'Finding Nemo', since Sano had long since crashed after the effects of his.. happy pills.. had gone away.
At 4:35, Kenshin and Kaoru made their way to the car. Kenshin threatened to lock Kaoru in the trunk when she persistantly asked him to allow her to drive.
At 4:57, they arrived at the Doozo Yoroshiku. They made it to the door of Hiko's back room without any problems. And there the real story begins.
***
Kenshin raised a steady hand to knock almost angrily on the door.
"Enter, Battousai. But leave the girl out there." Kenshin gave Kaoru a helpless look. She nodded and he went in, giving the hall one last 'I dare you' glare.
Kaoru immediately pressed her ear to the thin door.
~~
"Hiko. When you saved and renamed me.. what was my name?" Kenshin blurted out before Hiko could say anything.
((Quick note to all of the reviewers that informed me: I knew what his name was. But it's been 20 years for him, I doubt he'd be able to pull it off of the top of his head. Thanks, though!))
"Why are you asking, boy?"
"Please, just answer me, sir."
"Your name was Shinta. Are you happy? Now. About Kaoru. She's become a nuisance."
"W..what?"
"We're going to put a replacement of her in for the money and land.. but I want her dead."
"Surely you don't-"
"I do. I want you to kill her."
"Then why-"
"I want you to kill her now. Go out there, and kill her, Battousai. That's an order."
~~
Kaoru barely managed to muffle her gasp. Surely Kenshin wouldn't.. but Battousai would. She felt a shudder race down her spine.
'Run. Run now. Far and fast.' Her mind ordered sharply.
Kaoru lunged to her feet and took off down the hall, thrashing her way through the people and slamming out the doors into the street.
She acted without any thought. Sano was not going to be there to protect her, he was unconcious in the apartment. Soujiro and Tsubame were at a movie. She had no hope, unless she could defend herself.
And Kaoru had no doubts about who would have the upper hand in that situation. Against the Battousai, all of her skills were useless. She had her doubts that even the mighty Akuma could pull it off.
Kaoru sprinted down an alleyway. She branched into a back street, and then realized how stupid THAT move was and started back towards the main road..
To late.
A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and tossed her lightly, so she fell to the ground, and rolled a few times.
Before she could even stand, Battousai was above her. He stood above her, she was pinned beneath his legs. Should she stand, she'd still be completely out of luck.
"This seems.. familiar.." She tried.
He did not even blink at her voice. He drew his sword coldly, and readied the strike.
Kaoru's blood froze.
'This must be how those victims feel, in their last moments. When they're facing the certain death of Battousai. They look into those golden puddles of emotionless cold.. and can't help but be afraid.'
***
"That was such a CUTE movie!" Tsubame squealed for the third time.
"Yes, it was."
"I loved that air-headed fish!"
"Me too."
"What's wrong, Mr. Soujiro?"
"I'm not sure. Something just feels really.. wrong."
"Oh.. I'm sorry.."
"Oh, it's probably nothing! Don't worry about it."
"Okay!" Tsubame took it upon herself to skip ahead. She was in the middle of the street when she heard the honk. She looked up to see a speeding van bearing down on her, the breaks squealing in a last-ditch effort to avoid the frozen, shocked little girl.
Soujiro did not think. Just reacted. He threw himself forward, slamming into Tsubame.
"Look-" Thump. The van clipped Tsubame, just sending her skidding and leaving her with some cuts. But it hit Soujiro.
He flew through the air, and slammed hard into the pavement. His head connected after his body, rapping sharply. Blood spilled.
Everything was dead silent for a moment.
And then Tsubame screamed.
~~
Kaoru winced as the blade moved to her throat.
"I might as well say this, before I die. I do love you, Kenshin. It's odd, I didn't think I did. And then I didn't. And then I did again. Very strange. But I thought I'd share. I fell in love with you." He faltered. "Okay. You can kill me now."
He blinked, his golden eyes slightly confused.
"Why on earth are you so talkative in the face of death?"
"I figure that if I'm annoying enough, you'll kill me in the most painless, fastest way possible so I'll shut up." Kaoru shot up at her soon-to-be-killer.
"..who are you?"
"You were ordered to kill me, and you didn't ask?"
"No."
"I'm Kaoru."
"I.. know you.. don't I?"
"Yes."
"You.. just said you loved me?"
Kaoru reached up, grabbed Kenshin, and ignoring the blade yanked him off balance. He fell on top of her. Slightly painful, but no metal went through her skin. She kissed him with no hesitation.
Kaoru was not planning on taking her death laying down – funny, since she was – if she could help it.
When she released him. She found a pair of lovely lavender eyes staring into her own.
"I..I was going to KILL you! I didn't remember who you were!"
"That's okay. You know now."
"But.. Hiko.."
"He's a bad guy, Kenshin. You are not. He is."
"What she says is true." Saitou announced as he pretty much appeared from the shadows. Kenshin moved to rise, to protect Kaoru. "Don't worry about it – "
"He's an ally." Aoshi finished.
Very quickly, they explained what Hiko was, how he'd been working with Shishio, and why he wanted Kaoru gone.
"She was to smart, he was afraid of her figuring it out. To late, but that's not the point." Kenshin looked very, very upset about all of this. Kaoru was wondering if he'd like to stand up.
~~
The ambulence was fast to get to the scene. Soujiro was still alive.
Unfortunatly, there was severe trauma to his head. Or, as the paramedics called it, 'TBI' or 'Traumatic Brain Injury'.
Tsubame had gone into shock.
One of the paramedics, a short blonde girl with frightfully blue eyes was sitting next to her, attempting to talk her out of it.
The other two were crouched next to Soujiro, trying to avoid his puddle of blood.
"There's damage to the Cerebral Cortex from the looks of it. We'll have to run a CAT scan, but it looks like the Temporal Lobes may have taken some damage." The taller of the two men announced, examining Soujiro.
"Yeah, I agree." The shorter responded, checking Soujiro's pupils for a response. "It also appears that he may be in a coma or worse. He's not responding."
"How do you think the possiblities are that he has ICP?" (InterCranial Pressure)
"Pretty good. But we can't say for sure just by LOOKING at him, Jaren. Now straighten his neck and get him in the brace, I'm off to get the stretcher."
"Okay." Jaren bent attentivly over Soujiro as his partner rose and headed for the ambulance. "Wonder if they'll give him a coma cocktail?" He called.
"Just because you're head of class in your medical class doesn't mean you have to come up with every thing possible!" His friend yelled back.
"But it sure is fun!" He went back to checking Soujiro's vitals and getting him into position for the stretcher.
((Coma Cocktail: A mix of Thiamin, Glucose, and Naloxene given to coma patients in the hope that it will bring them out of it.))
"Okay, we're missing something."
"How about the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation?" ((Stabilizes patient))
"Yeah.. that could be it." They also tossed in some Antiseizure medication as a procaution, since they didn't know what Soujiro would do.
***
"I'm going to kill him."
"…who?"
"Hiko."
"Why?"
"Because HE ordered ME to kill YOU Kaoru!"
"..and?"
"I can't stand for that!"
"..why not?"
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! Why do you always ask so many blasted questions?" Kaoru fell silent and Kenshin resumed his attentive driving. They were headed back to the apartment, after Aoshi and Saitou told them to do so. Kenshin was to act as though he'd followed orders.
Silence lasted for a few more minutes. And then the ringing of Kenshin's cell broke the silence.
"Yeah?" Silence.. silence.. "WHAT?!" silence.. silence.. "Got it."
He hung up.
"What? WHAT?!" Kaoru cried, a chill racing down her back.
"That was a semi-sober Sano. Tsubame called him from the hospital. Soujiro is there. He is in a deep coma right now, and he's on life support. They've sent in tests to see if he is brain dead or not."
"Well, what are we WAITING for?! DRIVE TO THE HOSPITAL!" And they did. Kenshin gunned it and they sped to the hospital. Very lucky to avoid all of the cops.
"What if one of Hiko's plants sees you?"
"I don't care. Kenshin, that's my big brother!" Kaoru leapt out of the car and ran for the hospital. Tsubame was in the waiting room, a Band-Aid on her cheek where she'd hit after Soujiro had thrown her to the side. A few other small bandages hid her other cuts from sight.
She quickly relayed the tale, and then led them to the ICU.
"Only family, honey." One of the nurses announced, blocking the door to Soujiro's room.
"He's my older brother, her cousin, and his.. brother-in-law."
"Oh! Well, that's okay then." The woman smiled pleasantly and let them pass.
Soujiro was limp on the bed. Kaoru felt tears prick her eyes. He was pale and listless, unable to breath on his own.
She lifted one of his hands into her own and was surprised at how warm it was, he looked dead.
"Oh, Soujiro.. why did you have to be such a good guy?" Kaoru sighed. Tsubame was already sobbing, hiccupping softly. Kenshin stayed back, uncomfortable at the sight of the boy he'd come to think of almost as a little brother laying without any life at all.
There was a soft knock on the door.
Megumi entered. She was a plant from Aoshi's syndicate, and had recognized Tsubame and Soujiro, despite the beating that Soujiro had taken.
She held a chart in her hand, and her face was grim.
"I have the results, as to whether or not Soujiro is brain-dead." She announced.
"AND?!" Kaoru cried, leaping up, Soujiro's hand still clenched in her own.
"Well, he-"
A/N:
Dove: That is it. No, seriously. This is the end of Dark. I have loved you all, and this has been an insane ride. The experience I gained from writing Dark allowed me to win first place in a Short Story – Fantasy contest at my school. About everything that happened to Soujiro.. I looked it up.
Sano: They're all going to kill you, for leaving Soujiro in the balance like that.. to END Dark.
Kenshin: ..really..
Dove:..yeah.. I know.. but if they want to find out, looks like they need to bribe this greedy writer to write a sequel. ^_-
Sano: ..you're awfully cheerful..
Dove: I just feel like being happy.. and to that 'Luna' person that has apparently just discovered Dark.. thank you very much for all of the reviews! She reviewed on like.. every chapter! And look at that – 1000 reviews! DANG!!
Kenshin:..yeah..
Dove: Anyways.. not much to say.. it really has been a nutty ride. All of this stuff that happened.. I still left a lot of loose ends.. but it will all come together in the sequel.
Sano:..if there is one..
Dove:.. we should hope as much…
Sano:.. right..
Kenshin: YOU should hope as much..
Dove: Oh, shut up you two, before I sick my 12 lovely dogs and my 12 fun servants on you! BWAHAHA!
Kenshin:… the gods themselves do tremble..
Dove: Whatever. Anyways, I'll miss you all.. join me again soon for the sequel, 'Silence'!
Sano:.. we hope..