Leap of Faith - A Rurouni Kenshin drabble

By Rikkitsune

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Hello everyone! The line break function isn't working at the moment, so you'll all have to deal with my DIY line-breaks until FFN gets the problem sorted out.

I've joined another LiveJournal community; this one is called 100 situations. I write Kenshin/Kaoru pairings in response to one-word prompts. This one was Jump. It's based on my WIP Shadow Guardians. See my author's profile for more details.Enjoy!

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WARNINGS: Just slight language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or its characters.

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"Okay, remind me why we're up here?" Sano asked, proud that his voice wavered only slightly. It was bad enough to be standing so close to those three… creatures, without being up here as well.

On the roof. Of a 40 storey building. And he was shit-scared of heights.

"We're up here," the red-headed Other began patiently, squashing his temper, "because Enishi, his priests and his assassins are about to bust into your apartment with murderous intent."

A pause. "I thought stopping this kind of thing from happening was supposed to be your job," Sano accused, jabbing a finger in the general direction of the three dark-haired women without actually looking at them.

Looking at them directly made his psychic senses go haywire. Their auras were completely black, twisting and mingling with their corporeal forms like tainted vapour. It was like they had no clear edges, no substance. Which, when Sano thought about it, was pretty much true.

Even now, that he knew that they were the Shadow Guardians, he still felt uneasy. Their appearance at the apartment he shared with Aoshi had been frightening and unexpected.

"Were you paying attention at all back there?" one of them snapped. Her cinnamon brown eyes flashed dangerously with inhuman light and her long black hair rippled in a breeze Sano couldn't feel. "We're powerless against Enishi. Don't you understand? We cannot stop him from doing anything."

"He will most definitely kill you both if we don't get you out of here now," one of her companions firmly declared.

"What makes you think we can trust you?" Sano accused, irked that his companion was contributing nothing to a discussion that was fairly important, in the scheme of things.

"We're all you've got right," the smallest Shadow Guardian answered. She looked anxious, which didn't exactly fill him with confidence. "You have no choice but to come with us."

Below them, they heard the tell-tale smash of a door being broken down, followed by small explosions that were undoubtedly attacking spells. The Other strode quickly to the edge of the roof-top, looking down with a measuring expression on his face. When he turned back around, his determination was clear for all to see.

Sano jumped as a pair of black wings sprang from the red-head's shoulder-blades. Beside him, Aoshi's somewhat strangled intake of breath indicated his shock.

"Do you want to carry one of them or shall I?" the question was addressed to the Shadow Guardians.

"What!" Sano squeaked.

"Carry us where?" They were the first words to come out of Aoshi's mouth in over 10 minutes.

The diminutive Shadow Guardian approached him, her expression slightly apologetic. "We need to get off the rooftop," she told Aoshi, grasping his hands. He tried hard not to recoil at the icy sensation. "Trust me," she continued, pulling him forward. "We're less conspicuous than the Other, it won't take us long to get to safety."

Sano gaped as Aoshi reluctantly allowed himself to be led towards the ledge. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

Aoshi turned his head and speared Sano with a stern glare. "I don't like this situation any more than you do," he answered coldly. "However, I have no intention of dying before I finish my PhD."

Before Sano could retort in an appropriately scathing manner, the door flew open behind them.

Things got messy then.

As one, they all made a desperate break for the edge of the rooftop, their pursuers hot on their heels.

Sano felt the red-hot heat of a spell graze his left side and knew there was nothing else for it. Screwing his eyes shut, he leapt.

He wasn't sure if he screamed or not. He was falling so fast, he couldn't see or breathe. There was only the rushing roar of air in his ears.

Then there were hands on his arms, biting in painfully and hauling him upwards out of his freefall. A dizzy glance upwards told him it was the brown-eyed Guardian who'd snapped at him before.

"I have you," she assured brusquely, blinking in mild surprise as he lost consciousness.

"He is brave," Kenshin observed from behind them, his voice pitched for Kaoru's ears only.

"Yes," Kaoru agreed, flying steadily alongside him. "He is afraid of heights."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "You noticed it too then."

"Of course," she answered, sounding slightly insulted. "You would have to be blind not to."

Kenshin turned his head to the side and observed her, knowing full well that she knew exactly what he was doing.

She was beautiful in this lifetime. The black hair, blue eyes and pale skin of her host body suited her well; it was so similar to her first body, the one she'd had when she was still human.

Although he was annoyed at the stupidity of the two humans in getting themselves embroiled in this mess, Kenshin had to admit he was kind of happy about it. It meant he was able to see her earlier than he'd planned.

Kaoru felt uncommonly comfortable under Kenshin's scrutiny. His attitude and bearing was so familiar; he acted as though he already knew her.

"What are you really doing here?' she asked, suspicion colouring her tone. "I find it hard to believe an Other would be so interested in the mere fate of two humans."

Kenshin smiled to himself. "You will see, Kaoru. You will see."

Author's Notes

Let me know what you all think!