Disclaimer: I don't own RK

'Thoughts'

"talking"

XXXXXX-time/scene change

AN: IMPORTANT! READ THIS PLEASE!Okay, i know some of you may have noticed that this chapter was already posted earlier or maybe you didn't, but anyway, please re-read this chapter. I made BIG changes. It begins in the same way, but after the 1st time/scene change, it is practically all different. And once agian, I would like to apologize to and thank Nekotsuki for the advice!


Last chapter:

"Why don't you just kill him now?" whispered the man fearfully.

"I still want him alive. Remember the plan," he said impatiently. 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.


Chapter 7:

Kenshin kept his eyes closed as Shun entered the cell with two men on each side of him. He felt rather then saw his friends glare at Shun in anger. Kenshin calculated that they had been there for about two days, though it felt like an eternity to him and his friends, and he was already tired of Shun's constant visits just to verbally assault him. Not that it was affecting him much. His Shishou's jibes had not only been a lot more hurtful, but it had taught him to ignore taunts made by others. He knew that he was only trying to anger him and he was determined not to give them the satisfaction of a reaction.

"It's time to wake up Battousai!" he yelled loudly into Kenshin's ear. Kenshin suppressed a wince, ignoring the ringing in his eardrums, and lazily opened his eyes with nothing but annoyance visible in their amber depths.

"What do you want now?" Kenshin said calmly though a hint of irritation could be detected.

A seemingly thoughtful look appeared on Shun's face as he rubbed his chin with his hand. "Well," he began, "I was thinking this morning, and I realized how anxious I was feeling for some action to take place today."

Kenshin stared emotionlessly at Shun as a sick smile made its way across his face. "You see, I've been thinking about the perfect way to make you pay for your crimes for the longest time, and each time, my mind would wander back here. So here we are!" he said fiercely driving his fist into Kenshin's already bruised stomach. Kenshin felt air being forced out of his lungs at the power behind the strength and suppressed urge to groan in pain. This man, though smaller than his comrades, was strong. His one punch had hurt more than the collective hits the guards had inflicted on him the day before.

Shun grinned in satisfaction at the glare Kenshin sent him, before allowing his fist to collide with Kenshin's scarred cheek. Kenshin's head snapped to the side and hit the stonewall behind him with a sickening thud. Kenshin ignored the throbbing in his cheek and head and slowly turned his head to face Shun, defiant amber eyes burning in calm anger.

The minute Kenshin's eyes met Shun's, he lashed out again and with his hands on the boy's forehead, slammed his head into the wall behind a couple of times. Kenshin fought against the urge to yell out in pain, and shut his eyes as light and colors seemed to swim in his vision. He felt Shun's grip on his head disappear and vaguely heard his friends yelling something in the background followed by laughter. He was breathing hard he realized as he opened his eyes, clenching his fists and willing the room to stop spinning.

As his vision settled, he noticed that Shun had turned his back and was talking to his friends.

"…Why am I doing this? There are several reasons," he said. "But isn't it obvious? One reason is that a hitokiri shouldn't be allowed to live in happiness when he has stripped it away from hundreds of people. Why does he get to be happy when all he has done in life was kill? Why does he get to be happy if the people that have done nothing but try to live honest lives have to suffer? I am merely setting things right again."

"How is this right!" yelled Sano in anger.

"Well…"

"If it's me you want, then why not let them go?" Kenshin interrupted.

Shun turned around to look at the red haired youth, contempt clearly visible in his eyes. "Because I want them to suffer for giving you happiness and seeing as I can't torture them because that would only make me like you, I decided to let them watch me torture you. You, who deserves what I'm about to give you."

Without warning, Shun struck at Kenshin with a weapon that looked closely like a club in his hand. Kenshin clenched his fists as the club smashed into his right temple. A burst of light appeared in Kenshin's eyes and he fought desperately against the darkness threatening to consume him, vaguely feeling the sensation of a cold liquid slide down his face. Blood. His blood.

The last thing Kenshin heard before the club collided with his head again, sending him into oblivion, was the sounds of Shun's laughter mixed with the outraged cries of his friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Voices. There were voices, but Kenshin couldn't seem to concentrate on what was being said or who was saying it for that matter. The only thing Kenshin knew was that his head was throbbing like crazy and the loud voices weren't helping it go away. Kenshin clenched his stiff, cold hands uncomfortably and groaned slightly as he realized that his hands were now bound tightly together with rope above his head.

"Shhh!" he heard before everything went silent. Kenshin unconsciously shifted on his feet, trying to take pressure off his raw wrists that were keeping him up, and noticed that something was different. Kenshin's eyes snapped open in surprise, but he immediately regretted it and closed them shut as the room began to spin dangerously, his stomach feeling uncomfortably queasy. He took a few deep breaths trying to settle his uneasy stomach, and then opened his eyes again, slowly this time, squinting at the light that was emanating from the torch in the corner of his cell. He looked down at his feet and realized that they were no longer bound to a heavy metal ball, but rather chained together with about a shoulder length slack in between his feet.

Kenshin blinked several times as the cell seemed to blur in and out, and brought his head up to see the faces of his friends, each standing anxiously as close as they could get, up against the metal bars separating them.

"…What happened?" Kenshin mumbled, wincing inwardly at the weak and raspy sound of his voice. He looked into the faces of his friends and saw Megumi's mouth open to answer him.

"I think you have a concussion Ken-san," said Megumi deeply concerned about the unfocused and glazed look in the normally alert youth. Kenshin blinked and turned his attention from the unshed tears in Kaoru's eyes to Megumi.

"Huh?" he blurted out, unable to comprehend what the doctor had said to him.

"A concussion. I think Shun gave you a concussion."

"…Con-cussion?" he said hesitantly, brows knitted in thought, before the meaning of the word finally sunk in.

"Kenshin?" said Kaoru deeply disturbed by the glazed look and unusually slow reactions of the normally quick-witted hitokiri.

Kenshin kept his head down in thought for a few seconds before slowly looking up at the girl that had addressed him.

"Are you okay?" she asked tentatively.

"…Hai," he replied finally noticing the worried looks his friends were giving him. Slowly, he began to remember what had happened and he clenched his fists in anger at Shun. Taking a deep breath so that he wouldn't snap at his friends, he asked, "How long have I been out?"

"A few hours at the least," said Sanosuke carefully watching his friend.

"I see," whispered Kenshin tiredly leaning his forehead onto the cool relief of his knees.

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal Shun standing with three brawny men behind him. Kenshin tensed, cursing himself for not staying alert despite the concussion, but stayed in his position, not bothering to open his eyes for it helped to ease his pounding headache.

"I know you're awake Battousai," whispered Shun with an evil grin on his face after the door was shut.

He strode over to where Kenshin was and leaned in close to his face.

"I heard you talking to your friends, so stop feigning sleep," he yelled

The pounding in his head was too much and Kenshin brought his head up. "I'm not feigning sleep," growled the hitokiri in anger and irritation.

A smug and satisfied grin appeared on Shun's face, but was suddenly replaced by a serious look as he grabbed a chair from the other side of the room and took a seat in front of Kenshin.

"Reason number two," said Shun signaling for his men to stand beside him. "There once was a boy, barely 14, who lost his brother to the war. Years later, he learned that his brother was killed, for no reason, except that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time by the Hitokiri Battousai. By that time, the Meiji Era had begun, lowering the boy's chances of ever finding revenge for his dead brother," said Shun with a glazed, yet pained look in his eyes.

"Despite the fact that the man of legend could be anywhere in Japan, and his chances, which were low to begin with, had decreased to almost no chance at all at the start of the Meiji, the boy searched, following any and every lead or rumor he heard about. Eventually, he fell ill, and before he died, he found me. He practically begged me, that though he didn't want me to waste my life searching for you as he did, that if I did ever run into you, that I would make you suffer," said Shun as he got up from his seat and signaled to his guards with a nod of his head. "That boy…was my best friend's little brother, my brother."

"No please stop!" yelled Kaoru.

"Stop you Bastard!" cried Sanosuke in rage.

The men ignored their cries, and slowly advanced towards Kenshin. Kenshin watched warily as the men stood, one on each side, and one in front of him. Kenshin felt each man tense, somewhat nervously, as the man on his right released Kenshin's hands from the manacles holding them up. Through his surprise, Kenshin vaguely realized that the ropes binding his hands together had some slack at the end that pooled beside his feet.

The man in front of him grabbed the end of the rope and roughly pulled Kenshin forward. He lurched forward, barely finding his balance as he stumbled on his chained feet. He unsteadily straightened up to look into the angry eyes of Shun. Before he could even react, Kenshin felt a fist being sent into his already bruised stomach. He flew back, colliding with a sickening thud against the wall that he had been strapped to, and fell to his hands and knees, coughing and gasping for breath.

"Get up Battousai," sneered Shun evilly.

With difficulty, Kenshin was able to push himself unsteadily to his feet. He started in surprise as one of the men shoved him roughly towards Shun. Shun stepped aside to dodge the youth and Kenshin was barely able to bring his bound hands up to catch himself before running headlong into the bars separating the two cells.

"Kenshin!" cried out Kaoru worriedly as he was suddenly jerked back by the long ponytail trailing down his back. His head snapped back and he was pulled from his feet, landing unceremoniously on his back with a slight wince.

Shun looked disdainfully at the hitokiri breathing raggedly at his feet and nudged the boy's head lightly with his foot before stepping over to the door and knocking. As the door was opened, he looked back at Kenshin as the young teen struggled to get to his feet, and turned towards the three men standing around him.

"Have fun with him," Shun said to them, smirking slightly at the cruel smiles that lit up on their faces. "Just don't kill him." He walked out and the heavy metal door slammed shut behind him.

Kenshin jerked forward once again as one of the men pulled on the ropes tied to his wrists. He stumbled forward and was met with a fist to the face, sending him sprawling to the ground again. He heard crude laughter as he struggled once again to get to his feet. One of the men straight out charged and Kenshin barely had time to dodge, watching in slight triumph as the brute collided with the other man that had been standing behind Kenshin.

A defiant smirk appeared on Kenshin's face as the two men turned angrily towards him. "You'll pay for that one you runt!" one cried as he cautiously approached. The smirk on Kenshin's lips died as the three began to surround him. There was no way that he could avoid them all in the condition and situation that he was in. The three charged him simultaneously and Kenshin was barely able to dodge one, and brought his tied hands up to his face as the other aimed a punch at him. Unfortunately for Kenshin, he wasn't fast enough to avoid or block the last guy coming in from his left. He braced himself for the painful impact that was sure to come and winced as the man's foot came in contact with his unprotected ribs.

Kenshin flew back, scraping his arms and elbows on the stone concrete below him as he slid across the room and came to a stop as his head painfully hit the wall. Before he was even able to recover from the blow, someone yanked him to his feet by the rope connected to his wrists and sent him sailing through the room towards his friends. Kenshin gasped in pain as his back and head collided with the metal bars and through the ringing in his head, he vaguely noticed the blood running down his head and chin, and the stinging sensation in his arms.

"Kenshin!" cried out his friends as they rushed over to him. Kenshin brought his bound hands up and grasped a metal bar tightly, slowly pulling himself to his feet. He clung tightly to the bars and clenched his eyes shut as the room began to spin dangerously, his stomach doing flips. He swayed on his feet, fighting the darkness coming up to pull him down, and felt rough strong hands clasp his shoulder and support him. Kenshin's eyes snapped open, and forcing them to focus, he realized that it was Sano that had kept him from falling.

He felt a ki flare and turned to find one of the men practically on him, ready for another round. Without warning, a hand shot out from beside Kenshin's head and caught the guy in the chin, sending him back into the men behind him. Kenshin turned in surprise and came face to face with a grinning Sano.

"Man that felt good!" he exclaimed. His expression softened as he slowly took his hand away from Kenshin's shoulder. "Damn you look terrible," he said seemingly looking Kenshin over.

Kenshin was just about to respond, when he felt his feet being suddenly pulled from underneath him.

"Kenshin!" shouted Sano as Kenshin crashed to the ground. He quickly pulled his arms up to soften the fall, but instead, he landed painfully on his elbows, and slipping from the awkward position, his chin collided with the hard ground. Kenshin grit his teeth as blood filled his mouth and pain shot up his arm.

Kenshin painfully twisted himself onto his back just as the men began to drag Kenshin by the feet. The men laughed as Kenshin squirmed, trying to get away. As the men let go, Kenshin was sent rolling across the room, until he hit the wall and stopped. He lay on his side, his back against the wall, gasping for breath; fighting unconsciousness. The three men grinned at each other and before Kenshin had even gotten up, they began shamelessly sending blow after blow upon the boy below them. Kenshin unconsciously rolled up, desperately trying to protect his aching, and squirming stomach. Through the rain of blows, Kenshin dimly noticed the irate yells of his friends.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the kicks and punches stopped, and Kenshin lay trembling on the ground, with his eyes clenched shut in pain. Kenshin heard some talking, and suddenly, Kenshin was lifted onto his feet. When the hands holding him up left his body, his knees buckled and he crumpled back to the floor, sinking onto his hands and knees. He tried to slow his ragged breaths and stop the trembling in his arms, but as seconds ticked by, he found that it was getting harder to keep himself up.

"We better stop before we kill him," one of the men sniggered.

"Aww…but I was just getting into it," whined another man with a smirk marring his face.

"Yeah, well if we let you keep going and you end up killing him, we're gonna end up died too," said the other man.

Kenshin felt himself being lifted up again and willed himself not to throw up because of the harsh, rough handling of the men. They savagely pushed him against the wall. His arms were thrust up above his head and locked in place by the manacles attached to the wall, and the hands holding him up suddenly left. Once again, Kenshin's knees buckled, unable to support his body weight after the brutal onslaught, but this time, he was held up by his bleeding wrists. After the men finally left, Kenshin allowed himself to slip into the relief of unconsciousness.


AN: Well there's my re-written version of CHapter 7. I hope you like it! PLease review! Oo and i wrote another story called Madness of the Revolution. As the title implies, it's about the Bakumatsu. Check it out!