Disclaimer: I don't own RK
'Thoughts'
"talking"
XXXXXX-time/scene change
Last chapter:
Kenshin clenched his fists and banged them once against the wall above his head. 'Kuso,' he thought. 'How can I let something like this to happen?'
"Kenshin…" said Kaoru uncertainly.
Kenshin brought his head up and looked across the room at his friends. "Did he hurt you?" he asked quietly.
"No," they all answered.
"What do we do now?" asked Yahiko a bit fearfully, Kenshin thought.
"Nothing. There's nothing we can do until he comes back," answered Kenshin truthfully. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you guys. It's me he wants."
Chapter 6:
Ahhhh!" roared Sano in frustration struggling against the chains for the thousandth time that day.
"Give it up will you Rooster head," said Megumi irritably.
"I can't stand this!" he exclaimed causing the others to glare at him.
"Well, do you think we like this any more than you do?" spat Kaoru sharply.
"I never said that you liked this more than I did! I'm just saying that I don't like this!" said Sano.
"We know you don't like this Sano. None of us do!" said Yahiko.
Kenshin sighed inwardly. They had been arguing for what felt like hours, and it didn't seem as if they were going to stop any time soon. Kenshin closed his eyes and tried to block out the arguing of his friends. He needed to mediate and think of a way of getting out of this situation. 'Let's see, there has to be a way of getting out of here,' thought Kenshin. 'There isn't much we can do to fight, especially with our hands chained up like this, but we can always try and kick, until they chain our legs up too…' thought Kenshin bitterly. 'Even with my hands untied, there isn't anything I can do if Shun decided to hurt the others. Without a weapon, being untied really won't help much if the enemy is safe behind the bars. Maybe we could…'
"…Will you just shut up Rooster!" yelled Kaoru in frustration. Kenshin grinded his teeth as his friends once again broke his chain of thought.
"Don't tell me to shut up Tanuki!" said Sano.
"Will both of you please just stop talking. You're giving me a headache," said Megumi.
"I'm not the one that was talking!" said Kaoru.
"Hey! Don't blame it all on me. You were too talking!" argued Sano.
Kenshin took a few deep breaths to calm himself knowing that losing his temper wouldn't help the situation that they were in. Though it would probably get his friends to shut up, he didn't want them to become afraid of him the way his comrades of the Bakumatsu were. He had had enough of people being afraid of him when they were supposed to be on the same side and he did not want to see the same fear on the faces of his friends. Kenshin opened his eyes and scanned the room for the hundredth time, hoping to find something that would help.
There were no windows, only walls of what looked to be very thick bricks. The bars in between them were also very thick and looked very hardy and sturdy. The doors on each side of the prison cell were thick metal that were barred on the other side by what sounded like a heavy slab of metal. There was no knob or handle to pull the door open meaning that someone always had to be outside to open the door when their captors needed to leave. There was a tiny window on the door that was darkened so that they could not see if their captors were watching them. All in all, things looked pretty hopeless.
Things began to quiet down in the cell as Kenshin's friends got tired of yelling at each other. Kenshin turned his attention back to his friends. They were all looking down in a defeated manner with looks of sadness and frustration on their faces. Not being able to think of anything, Kenshin decided to close his eyes and go into a half asleep state that would keep him alert, but also regain some energy that he had a feeling he would need later. He cleared his mind of all the thoughts swirling around and took a couple of deep breaths to relax. He loosened up his tight and tense muscles and let his fingers hang limply from the chains holding them above his head.
He felt his friends watching him, their kis radiating curiosity, but he ignored them. Kenshin stayed somewhere between wakefulness and sleep for several hours. A part of his mind was registering everything that was happening, while the other half of him was asleep, not paying attention nor caring what his other half was taking note of.
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Kenshin's eyes snapped open as he felt a ki come by the door. To his surprise, the door was slightly opened and a metal ball was thrown inside. Kenshin looked up and saw that his friends had fallen asleep. He brought his attention back to the metal ball as it started violently spewing out grey smoke. Kenshin started yelling for his friends to wake up, hoping to warn them, and eventually, they woke up.
"Kenshin, what's going on?" yelled Kaoru.
"I don't know, but hold your breath. I don't know what this stuff is," he yelled back.
Kenshin took a deep breath watching as his friends did so also. He watched as Yahiko, being the youngest and not able to hold his breath as long, took in a lung full of the dark smoke and begin coughing. After a few seconds, his trembling frame relaxed as he slipped into unconsciousness. Kenshin saw panic and worry written over his friends' faces while they struggled to hold their breath until he could no longer see them. Seeing that the smoke had no way of escaping the room except for a few cracks on the ceiling above Kenshin and the cracks underneath the door, Kenshin realized that there was no way that he could hold his breath until the smoke dissipated. His lungs began to burn and finally he could no longer hold it. He took in a lung full of the smoke just as he heard his other friends begin to cough.
He gagged and then broke off coughing as well. He began feeling his muscles relax and against his will, his body began to shut down on him. Finally, darkness overtook him and his head fell against his chest in unconsciousness.
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Kenshin woke up to a splitting headache and the sound of someone yelling. At first, his mind couldn't register what was being said or who was saying it, but after a few minutes, he realized it was the voice of a young boy…of Yahiko.
Kenshin opened his eyes and a barely audible groan escaped his lips as his head began to throb even more from the yelling.
"Kenshin!" he heard Yahiko yell. "You're awake!"
Kenshin was surprised to see that Yahiko was no longer chained to the wall. He was standing by the bars separating the room with his hands tightly clutching the metal bars. Kenshin looked behind Yahiko and realized that Sano, Megumi, and Kaoru were also untied and lying on the ground unconscious. In the corner of their room, were four trays of crudely made food.
"What happened?" Kenshin muttered.
"Remember that smoke bomb thingy? Well, one of the guards came in when I woke up and told me that it was meant to knock us out so that they could unchain us from the wall. Said something about not wanting any trouble from us when they took the chains off," explained Yahiko.
"I don't see why they would unchain us though," murmured Yahiko under his breath.
"So that you guys can eat and drink?" Kenshin said remembering the food in the corner. "Shun promised that you guys wouldn't be killed and that promise would be broken if you guys died of thirst or starvation… Besides, there probably was no point in keeping you guys chained up since it is me that they want," Kenshin said.
Just then, a groan was heard and Yahiko and Kenshin turned their attention to their friends as they started waking up one by one. Yahiko and Kenshin explained what had happened to them after they all woke up.
Sano stood up with a look of confidence on his face.
"They made a mistake in letting me go," he said cracking his knuckles.
"There's no point," said Yahiko from his place on the floor.
"What do you mean?" asked Megumi.
"I mean, that these walls and bars were made to withstand Sano's Futae no Kiwami," said Yahiko matter-of-factly.
"Oh yeah? And how do you know this?" asked Kaoru.
"That guard-guy told me," said Yahiko leaning back against the wall. "He said that if you didn't believe him that you could go ahead and punch the walls, doors, floors, and bars all you want because it won't do us any good."
"Kuso," swore Sano punching the wall creating a small dent, but nothing more.
"Why were we chained up in the first place if being unchained wouldn't make any difference anyway?" said Sano in frustration.
"To get to me," said Kenshin with his head down.
The room became quiet until all of a sudden, a loud growling noise came from across the room. Kenshin looked up and saw that Sano was blushing slightly. He scratched the back of his head and laughed.
"I guess I'm kinda hungry," he laughed. "You think that food is drugged?"
"Possible, but not likely," replied Kenshin.
"Besides, if he hasn't killed us yet, why would he kill us through the food," said Megumi.
"I guess you're right," said Sano picking up a tray and examining it thoroughly before warily sticking it in his mouth. He grimaced at the taste, and forced it down his throat.
"It's horrible," he croaked before chugging the cup of water quickly.
"It's worse than Jou-chan's cooking," he said.
"Is that possible?" sniggered Yahiko.
"Well, I don't see you cooking Yahiko-chan," said Kaoru after making a huge bump to grow from his head. "Or you, you freeloader."
The three began to fight and argue. Kenshin sighed inwardly. Kenshin tensed visibly as he sensed Shun's unmasked ki and three other men coming towards the door.
"What's wrong Ken-san?" asked Megumi noticing his tension.
"He's coming," he muttered immediately stopping his friends' argument. The door to Kenshin's side of the cell opened slowly and a smiling Shun walked in followed by two of the three men. Kenshin's glowing amber eyes glared angrily at him causing his smile to widen.
"Good Morning Battousai!" he chirped happily. Kenshin just continued to glare at him.
"I see nobody has ever taught you manners," he said unfazed by the glare.
"Maybe I should teach you some," he said a smirk appearing on his lips. He motioned to the two men beside him and they stepped up beside him. He nodded to them and one big brawny fist was sent sailing into Kenshin's gut. Kenshin's friends ran up as close as they could and yelled angrily.
"Let's try this again," he smiled. "Ohayou Battousai!"
Kenshin narrowed his eyes and spit onto Shun's face. Shun calmly reached up and wiped his face. He stepped back and the other bodyguard sent another punch into his already bruised chest. Kenshin kicked the man in his family jewels sending him to the ground in a heap of pain.
Sano yelled out triumphantly while the man struggled to get to his feet. "Bind his feet," said Shun simply. Another man walked into the room with a chain connected to a large metal ball. The men started to advance on Kenshin and he prepared to retaliate. Suddenly, the men jumped at him and Kenshin pulled his whole body off the ground using the chains suspending his hands and kicked them causing them all to topple on top of each other.
They got back up and launched themselves at him. Through their struggles, one man decided he had had enough and punched Kenshin in the stomach several times. As he did that, another guard grabbed Kenshin's feet and the other tied the chain tightly around his ankles. Kenshin thrashed around as best as he could, but found that the binds on his feet were getting tighter and tighter. Finally, they finished binding his feet and the metal ball prevented Kenshin from lifting his bound legs to kick them.
Kenshin growled angrily and glared at the men. One of the men couldn't meet his gaze and the growl caused him to flinch.
"Don't be afraid of him," said one of the other men. "He's as harmless as a kitten when he is bound like that," sneered the other man. Shun stepped up to Kenshin and spit onto his face. "How do you like that?" he smiled.
Kenshin pulled on the chains roughly trying to punch him, only managing to cause the chains to cut deeper into his already sore wrists.
"Whoa there Red. No need to get violent. I'm only paying you back for your little gift earlier," he sneered.
The scared man backed away even more. "You're pathetic," cried out his comrade.
"Let me go, or I swear I will hunt you down when this is over and kill you all slowly and painfully," Kenshin threatened.
The man backed up against the wall by the door, his eyes filled with fear. "Get back here!" cried out Shun. "He can't do anything to you. Besides, when this is all over, he'll be dead."
"Why don't you just kill him now?" whispered the man fearfully.
"I still want him alive. Remember the plan," he said impaciently. Shun sighed dramatically. "Alright then, why don't we just come back later when I get some men who aren't afraid of a chained kid."
Shun reached up and patted Kenshin's head like a dog causing a deep growl to emit from the back of Kenshin's throat. Shun smiled and walked out with his men following behind. The door slammed shut and the room was left in silence. Though Shun was no longer there, Kenshin continued to glare at the door as if it was the cause for his situation. Kaoru and the others didn't dare say anything when Kenshin had that angry look on his face.
AN: Well…what do you think? Please review. Give me some ideas. Would you rather me have Shun torture poor Kenshin some, or have Kenshin and his friends find a way to escape now? Remember to review and let me know!
