Disclaimer: After all this time, I still don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Or Soujiro. T.T

Scars of the Past

Chapter Twelve

"Look who decided to drop by." The boy looked up from his huddled ball when a loud thump sounded in the room, followed closely by another.

Cinnamon eyes widened in horror. Misao was bound and gagged, looking unharmed except for a few scratches and a bruise forming beneath her right eye. Soujiro was the story.

His gi was stained completely through, the blue a dark purple with the stains spreading outwards. A knife was embedded in his side, the handle the only part sticking out. His right arm, which had been healing steadily, was once more at an awkward angle, with bruises showing on almost every noticeable piece of skin.

But the most noticeable thing was the smile. It was gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Nowhere to be seen on the pain filled face.

"Wh---what did you do to him?" Yahiko asked in a whisper, voice trembling as he sat up and stared at his friends.

"Nothing he wasn't asking for," Anohorea grinned, white teeth gleaming. Misao glared at him and mumbled something into her gag, braid swishing furiously behind her. "You disagree?" the man asked. "Remove her gag and leave us," he ordered the two ninjas who'd come in with Soujiro and Misao.

The ninjas did as they were instructed. As soon as the door closed behind them, Misao made a wild lunge at Anohorea, the bigger man catching her easily and throwing her back on the ground.

"YOU BASTARD!" she shrieked, tears flying from her ocean colored eyes. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! KILL YOU! LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!"

"Feisty little one, aren't you?" Anohorea chuckled, his eyes raking over the ninja's body. "You'd be interesting to get in bed."

"YOU WANT TO TRY? JUST TRY AND GET ME! I'LL KILL YOU AS SOON AS YOU GET NEAR ME! AFTER WHAT YOU DID YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF I GRANT YOU A QUICK DEATH!"

"That's very kind of you," he sneered. "And I'd say the same for you except for the fact that it would be much more entertaining to keep you around. Your boyfriend can go though."

"SOU IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Misao denied. "AND DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM, TEME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? DON'T HURT HIM!"

"You mean like this?" Lifting his foot, Anohorea kicked Soujiro in his side, the Tenken flying several feet and then falling and rolling on the ground, a soft cry escaping his tightly sealed lips.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Yahiko cried, jumping to his feet, anger sparkling in his eyes. "IT'S ME YOU WANT, ISN'T IT?"

"It would have been that, Yahiko. But things change," Anohorea said, walking purposely over to Soujiro. "When you find that someone you believed was on your side was in truth working for the enemy…you tend to feel a little bit of hate towards them."

Reaching down, the solidly built man picked Soujiro up by the front of his gi and threw him across the room, the eighteen-year-old slamming into the opposite wall.

"STOP IT!" Yahiko screamed, charging towards Anohorea, tears nearly blinding him. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The manslayer caught Yahiko's fists easily and pushed the child away from him so that he stumbled back towards Misao. "I'm not ready to kill you yet, Yahiko," Anohorea smirked. "I want you to die knowing that you caused the Tenken's death. But before I kill him…"

Anohorea made his way over to Yahiko, who was lying dazed on the ground from the impact. Unwrapping a coil of rope from his arm, he bound the boy's legs and wrists, leaving him next to Misao.

"PLEASE STOP!" Misao begged, trying to struggle to her feet but finding balance impossible. "LEAVE SOU ALONE! I'M BEGGING YOU!"

"The Tenken brought this upon himself," Anohorea growled. "He disobeyed. And for that he must pay."

"Then at least wait until he wakes up!" sobbed Misao. "How is it any fun hurting us when we're not even conscious?"

Anohorea paused. "Perhaps you're right…very well, I shall come back in a little while…where you will both be able to witness his death." Chuckling softly to himself, Anohorea exited the room, the door locking behind him.

"What'd you do that for?" Yahiko asked, his vision still slightly blurry, due to the recent throw and the continuous blood loss.

"I'm buying us some time," Misao whispered, her fingers searching for a knot on her ropes. "If we can get free then we can get out of here. How are you doing?" she asked, pausing momentarily and glancing at the boy, only half clothed, lying next to her.

"I've been better," he said with a weak smile. But as quick as the smile had come, it was gone and replaced by tears. "He told me Sou died…"

"Sou's stronger then that," Misao said firmly. "And he's going to make it…he has to," she said, voice trailing off.

"What happened to him?"

"Back at the dojo…he was poisoned. He should have already been dead, but he won't go until he knows you're safe…when we got here we ran into a few of those Tozuma bastards," she snarled, features turning distorted in rage. "Sou tried to take them on, but he's really weak…and well, they overpowered him. And they knew how to evade my weapons since they're ninjas too, so I didn't stand much of a chance."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He has to be."

"Why'd you say that?"

"Say what?" Misao asked, moving herself to a sitting position. "Sit up and try to untie my hands."

"That he wasn't your boyfriend…can you bring your hands up anymore? I can't reach."

"Try that… and I said that because he isn't."

"But you love him…don't you?" Yahiko asked, his voice serious. "He's different around you, Misao. He smiles. A real smile. He trusts you…he loves you too. He's not just trying to stay alive for me, you know. He wants to live for you. Can't you see?"

Misao paused from trying to pick at her knot. "That isn't love, Yahiko. That's just kindness."

"No, it isn't," he said stubbornly. "Why won't you just admit it? I've seen you…remember when I was sick and Sou thought you were too because you wouldn't stop blushing? You love him, Misao. Now quit being so stubborn and admit it…"

"I'm not being stubborn," she retorted. "Ha! I think you got it!" To prove her point, the ninja pulled her hands in front of her, the untied rope falling to the floor. "Hang on a sec and I'll untie you too."

"This might be the last time you'll be able to tell him," Yahiko said softly, flexing his wrists as Misao finished pulling the ropes off him.

But his words fell on the air as Misao was already sprinting across the floor towards Soujiro. With a groan, Yahiko hoisted himself to his feet and followed at a much slower pace, the room making lazy circles around him.

"Sou? Can you hear me?" Misao asked, crouched down next to the Tenken. "Please Sou…wake up…"

"Mi…sao?"

"That's right," the ninja coaxed, carefully turning him so that he lay on his back and preventing the knife from digging further into his side. "Time for you to wake up…we've got to get out of here."

"Ya…ko?"

"Yahiko? He's right here," Misao said, gesturing frantically at the boy in question to come over. "See?"

Two pale gray eyes opened in slits to look up, the pupils not focusing on the faces of his friends. "Not really," he chuckled weakly, the laugh quickly turning to a deep cough as red blood dribbled out of his mouth.

"Not good," Misao muttered, pulling Soujiro so that he was leaning into her, hopefully allowing him to breathe easier. "Come on, Sou. You have to stay awake!" she cried as his eyes started to drift closed once more.

"Please Soujiro," Yahiko begged, tears trickling down his cheeks. "You're not allowed to die! We're all going to get through this…and that means you have to live!"

"Sorry," he murmured, licking his dry lips and wincing at the taste of blood. "Just…so tired…"

Misao tried a different tactic. "We're still in danger, Soujiro. Anohorea is going to come back any minute…we have to get out of here."

"Not…safe yet?" he asked softly.

"Mm mm," Misao sighed. "You have to get up, Soujiro. Yahiko and I can't do this by ourselves…we need you."

The Tenken gave a soft groan and placed a hand on the ground, pushing himself so that he was sitting. Blood pounded in his ears and he felt a rush of bile rushing up to his mouth, but the outward expression, a small, barely noticeable smile, betrayed none of this.

"Then we should go," he whispered, struggling to stand as the room swam around him, a whirlwind of colors with no stopping point.

"Easy there," Misao cautioned as she jumped up and caught the boy just as he started to fall. "No need to go super fast…we still have to find a way out of here."

"I'm on it," Yahiko announced. "The door would be our best bet, but Anohorea always has guards outside of it. "Do you think we could break down one of the outside walls? The wall opposite the door goes to the woods."

"That'd work," Misao agreed, draping one of Soujiro's arms around her neck to help him balance a little more. "But how do we knock down a solid wall?"

A pensive expression crossed Yahiko's face. "Well…we could try kicking it down."

"Even if that did work," Misao said, "we'd both tumbled out and over…and most likely fall to our deaths. We need a weapon of some sort…like an ax or a sword."

"What about a knife?" Soujiro asked, blinking furiously to try and regain some sense of where he was. "Would that work?"

"A knife? Yeah…that probably would. It'd take us longer but we could probably manage to get a hole and then tear out parts. But where are we going to get a knife? They took all of mine."

Soujiro gestured to the knife buried into his right side. "Wouldn't that work?"

"If we take that out without having bandages ready you'd die of blood loss," Misao said evenly, although her face had dropped a few shades paler.

"That's really our only option," Soujiro replied, un-looping his left arm from Misao and placing it on the hilt of the knife, the smile momentarily disappearing as he tried to pull it out.

"No! Stop that!" she cried, hand darting out and catching on to Soujiro's wrist. "I know it's our only option…but it'll kill you."

"Then we'll all die," he muttered, lowering his eyes. "And besides…I'm going to die anyway."

"Don't say things like that," Misao chided, tilting his head up so that he was looking at her. "We're all going to live. We're going to get out of here, get you and Yahiko to Megumi and everything will work out."

"Sorry," he apologized again. "But if you don't want me to use this, then what other option do we have?"

Misao bit her lip and glanced around the room for another means of something to break the wall.

"That is our only option," Yahiko said softly.

"Actually, you're out of options."

Misao screamed and whipped around just as an airborne Yahiko crashed into her, both of them tumbling and finally hitting the far wall, lying dazed. Soujiro, who had managed to evade the flying duo glanced warily up at Anohorea, loathing in his gray eyes.

"Nice try," he snarled, ramming one of his fists into his open hand, "but not good enough. I know enough about all three of you to know you're not going to sit there and wait for me to come back."

"Then you should also know we're not going to just sit down and let you win," Soujiro hissed, his glare enough to make Anohorea take a step back. "And I don't care what I have to do…but you're coming down with me."

Anohorea snorted. "I don't know how you're still alive, Tenken. But I can assure you that it won't be for much longer. You can barely stand…I'd like to see you try and defeat me."

Soujiro merely gave a smile and disappeared in a burst of speed. Seconds later, Anohorea's scream tore though the room as the knife that had once been in Soujiro's side was now in his. Soujiro broke his run a second later, several feet from Anohorea.

He crumbled slowly to the ground, managing to put his left hand on the floor to hold himself partway up. But it didn't do much good. Anohorea pulled the knife out, a grim smile on his face.

"One thing you should know," he cautioned, walking slowly towards Soujiro. "A small cut like that won't stop me. Unlike you, I have a lot of muscle on my body and that protects me. The blade didn't even go in deep enough to cause any damage…it was more of a pin prick.

"Although I can assure you that what I'm about to do to you will be slightly more painful," he grinned, now standing in front of Soujiro. "You're so weak you can't even stand…the more you move the faster the poison flows through your body. It won't be more then a few minutes now. And I'll make sure you enjoy the last of your life."

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" screamed Yahiko, staggering to his feet and making his way to the duo, his feet pounding into the floorboards. "DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!"

"It's too late for that, Yahiko-chan," Anohorea smirked. "Now…sit back…and enjoy the show," he grinned, having grabbed Yahiko and rammed him into the nearest wall, the eleven-year-old slumping to the floor, the room moving too quickly in his mind to attempt standing. And across the way, Misao still lay unconscious on the ground, her head having taken a good hit.

With a graceful swing of his arm, Anohorea flipped Soujiro onto his back, a soft moan issuing from the boy's lips. "Now, I'm not going to move you around too much…that would kill you faster and I want to draw this out."

Sneering, Anohorea plunged the knife down towards Soujiro's stomach. What he hadn't counted on was the Tenken's hands coming up at last second and catching the blade between his palms, just mere centimeters before it pierced his flesh.

"That's not going to save you," Anohorea said, using his other hand and snapping it down onto Soujiro's broken arm, the bone cracking again forcing Soujiro to drop his grip on the blade. "Your forget that I'm stronger then you are," Anohorea growled, backhanding Soujiro across his face. "And therefore you can't beat me."

Misao watched helpless from the floor, a searing pain racing up and down her body whenever she attempted to move. 'Damnit. I think the bastard broke something. But I have to get up…I have to save Sou.' The ninja tried once again to stand, only to fall back to the ground before she even managed to place one foot firmly on the ground. 'Aoshi-sama…where are you? I need you…'

She closed her eyes, wishing she could close her ears as well against Soujiro's cries, though he never once pleaded or begged. 'Get up you stupid Weasel," she scolded herself. 'Soujiro needs you. Yahiko needs you. You're the leader of the Oniwabanshu! Now get UP!'

She gave a weak grin as she hoisted herself up, ignoring the throbbing pain and pushing it to the back of her head. 'Just like they say…mind over matter. Time for that matter to take a break.'

Taking a deep breath, the ninja girl took a wobbly step forward, Anohorea's back fortunately to her. With slow, yet purposeful steps, she made her way towards her friend, the pain lessening with each footfall as a wave of determination washed over her.

She was the leader of an elite ninja group, damnit! She wasn't some weak, little girl who could be pushed around like that. She'd show them…she'd show everyone. She deserved that title. Not just for being Okina's granddaughter or because Aoshi left. But because she was capable of winning. She could fight. And she would do it now.

Ready or not…she had to act now. And although inside she was quaking with fear, a river of fire ran through her blood. If she wanted to save Sou it meant risking her own life. But Soujiro's life was worth it. She wasn't sure when that had happened. When he had suddenly become so important that she was willing to die for him, but it had and she didn't regret it at all.

Creeping up almost noiselessly behind the much larger man, Misao undid her sash and stretched it out between her hands. It was her only weapon at the second as much as she didn't like it. Crouching down, she waited for her moment when Anohorea's big, fat ugly head was just a little lower.

And after mere seconds of waiting, he did, looking down a bit more as he twisted his knife in Soujiro's shoulder, a maniacal grin on his face as blood poured out of the wound. Jumping up, Misao wrapped the ribbon around his neck and planted both of her feet on his back, wrenching as hard as she could on the ends of the sash to try and choke him.

Anohorea made a choking noise and rose to his full height, one arm swinging back to dislodge Misao. She winced as his hand drove into her side, a dull cracking sound accompanying the blow, but refused to let go of her obi, the hit only making her pull tighter.

'Die already you damned bastard!' her mind screamed, as Anohorea's movements slowed but he still continued to fight back. 'Just pass out for all I care! But hurry up!'

But as the obi was suddenly ripped in two from the front and Misao, losing her hold went flying backwards, she realized that her idea hadn't quite worked.

"Did you think…that would work?" Anohorea gasped, massaging his neck and turning to look at the ninja. "A flimsy piece of cloth isn't going to stop me."

"It was worth a shot, you bastard," Misao growled, clambering sorely to her feet and taking a defensive stance as he lumbered towards her, withdrawing a sword from his belt. "What? Are you going to try and kill a defenseless girl?"

"Nope," he sneered, coming even closer. "I don't want to kill a pretty thing like you just yet. I think we should have a little fun first."

"If you think I'm going to be fun then you must be more delusional then I thought you were," Misao snapped, although her insides were turning to ice. "Take one step closer and I'll show you my idea of fun…and I can guarantee you won't like it."

"I think you're mistaken," he smirked. "Now, be a good girl and come here…I don't want to have to hurt you."

"Liar. That's all you do…all you've ever done. You kill people. Your blasted brother? He died in a war, god damnit! People die in wars! They go to wars prepared to die! So why the hell you're holding a grudge is beyond me."

"Because that bastard who killed him didn't have to do it so brutally. He didn't kill him quickly…he slaughtered him!"

"Just like what you did to Soujiro?" Misao asked, tears pouring down her cheeks as she risked a quick glance at the boy, lying pale as a ghost in his own pool of blood. "How is what Yahiko's father did to your brother any different? But you know what? They are different. Because WE'RE NOT IN A FUCKING WAR! WE'RE IN THE MEIJI! IN PEACE! SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THIS?"

"Because I can," Anohorea replied calmly, although his tone didn't lose its icy chill. "Because I can kill off those who don't deserve to live. Because God gave me the power to do so."

"HE DIDN'T GIVE YOU STRENGTH TO KILL PEOPLE! POWER IS A GIFT! WE SHOULD USE IT FOR GOOD!"

"We all make our own choices. I made mine and I stand by it."

"THEN YOU MADE THE WRONG ONE! YOU HEAR ME? YOU MADE THE WRONG ONE!"

"As long as I enjoy it, it doesn't matter, now does it?" he grinned, running the last few steps at Misao, sword slamming into the wall right next to her head. "As long as I have fun, I don't care," he whispered, breath tickling her ear. "And I sure as hell am going to have my fun now."

Author's Notes:

Wow…pretty dark for SOTP, isn't it?

…

:dodges flying kunais, swords, shuriken, and anything else the audience has thought up to throw:

I'm sorry! Really! I've just been really busy and I was really sick the last few weeks. I almost had mono…but sadly didn't. T.T But here's the next chapter and the one after should arrive a lot quicker then this one. I also have to work on BT…that fic is almost finished too. :P

But remember, the more reviews, the quicker I update. So want to do me a favor and press the little button down there? Arigato!