Author's note: Ha, I'm very proud of myself, another chapter written and no studying lost. Bow before me mortals! Anyway, there are no flashbacks in this chapter, I have just realised, so we must have pretty much caught up with present time, this means we might actually get somewhere with the story. Anyway, there's nothing too dark or disgusting in this chapter, unless you count kissing as being gross. Hope you all like it. Read and Review, my dear readers.
Chapter Six
Aoshi sat at the head of the long conference table, his eyes staring at a point somewhere above the door. The room was all shining stainless steel and pure white walls, lending it a cold air to match the Okashira's mood.
The spies sitting down either side of the table didn't move or make a sound, professional even when off duty. These were the elite, the best of the best assembled in one room, a feat never before accomplished in the history of espionage. Bad blood ran deep in this line of work and to put a lot of these men in one room together was like asking for an underhanded, subtly executed fight to break out. But then Aoshi was never troubled by things that had never been done before, just because they hadn't didn't mean he couldn't.
'You are telling me that there is no trace?' His usual emotionless voice reinforced by an icy undertone which informed the room that he was not pleased with the news.
'Hai, we have looked everywhere, he is not to be found in Tokyo or its surrounding area.'
Aoshi would have dragged a hand through his hair and yanked on it out of pure frustration if not for the fact that it would show how much he needed the information. A show of weakness in front of others was a chance for them to use it against you, especially spies like the ones he had gathered. If they scented even the slightest vulnerability they would tear him to shreds. So instead he contented himself with taking one long steadying breaths and imagining the dojo he would be letting his pent up aggression out in later.
'Very well, I appreciate your efforts.'
It was a dismissal and everyone knew it. They stood with the same graceful silence as they had sat, not even a rustle of clothing to mark their presence. The only sound in the room was the clock on the wall ticking away time.
Aoshi continued to sit long after everyone had left, feeling a hollowness in his chest that only Misao's energy could fill. He had to find his location soon if he was going to prevent her from doing anything drastic. If Misao took on the Battousai she would lose and he had already been warned if it was between another death and what he thought to be Kaoru's protection the man wouldn't even hesitate. He screamed inwardly with the frustration. She just didn't understand what was going on. He had to find the hideout soon before things got even more complicated and deadly
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The pounding in Kaoru's head felt like a thousand angry Yahikos swinging bokkens while joining a thousand hyper Misaos in bouncing off her cranium. She rolled over, trying to ease the ache and only succeeded in sending another stab of white hot pain flashing behind her eyes. Parting her chapped lips, she groaned softly and even this made her head feel like it was cracking open along her hairline.
Foolishly, she didn't take this as a warning and forced herself into a sitting position. The world immediately tipped on its axis, flooding her with nausea. What was it with this bedroom and her finding herself with splitting headaches? She eased back ever so gently, another wave of queasiness making her stomach lurch.
She didn't try again for a while, slipping in and out of consciousness, and it seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, before she could summon the will to move again. She needed water, her parched throat feeling like something had up and died in there, and then coffee, lots and lots of life-giving coffee. Coaxing her sore body up in bed, she promised herself another nice relaxing shower.
As she scooted carefully from the sheets, her feet caught on the material, twinging threateningly and forcing her to hobble to the door like she'd been wearing some seriously brutal heels the night before. She definitely hadn't, she was quite sure. Either way it was clear that she wasn't at her best, not even thinking clearly enough to realise that exposing her retinas to the sudden bright light outside her room might be a very bad thing. Instead, after fumbling her way slowly over, she flung it open and promptly stumbled backwards, crying out in agony and landing on the floor. She felt like some irate vampire caught by daylight, hissing and covering her sore eyes. Once again, she wondered why this room seemed to hate her. This was the second time she had found herself on her ass while trying to go out the door.
After several attempts, she finally managed to get her eyes accustomed to the difference in illumination between her room and the corridor outside, making her painfully slow way to the bathroom.
But even when inside the shower she couldn't enjoy the soothing spray of heated water, her feet forcing her to turn it down to a near freezing temperature. By the time she had towel dried her body and hair, she had the urge to slam her forehead against the wall in an attempt to knock herself out, hopefully saving her from the steady beat of her heart in her skull.
She stood at the sink for long moments, sipping water from one of the tooth mugs and contemplating the shadows behind her eyes, the ones that told of her countless fears. It seemed she never slept without the aid of something any more, be it carefully manipulated pressure points when she was captured rendering her unconscious, or large amounts of poisonous alcohol. At least that's what she fuzzily recollected had caused this occasion's pain, whiskey if she could trust her own memory.
The thought of liquor made her gorge rise and she hurled herself at the toilet just in time to rescue herself from a very disgusting clean up later. Sobbing pathetically as she wretched, she cursed herself. She was never going to drink any form of spirit again in her entire life. Lying down, she pressed her sweating brow against the cool tile and tried to pluck up the courage to sit upright again. The need to brush her teeth and gargle away the bitter aftertaste of bile was increasing by the second.
For long moments this idea seemed unfeasible, however, Kaoru unable to tell the floor from the ceiling with the way the world swam around her. Finally, though, with much pausing to allow the spinning room to stabilise, Kaoru managed to prop herself up against the basin and then lower herself inch by inch onto the toilet seat beside it. Grabbing the pink toothbrush she assumed someone had thoughtfully left in the stand for her use, she began to thoroughly scour her mouth.
When she'd done this several times, she splashed her sweaty face with cold water and tried to think back to what had left her in this mess. She'd been in this room, she remembered that clearly enough. Then…Yes, then Battousai had brought her clothes and taken her to the roof. She couldn't help smiling at the vision of bright stars and swaying candles that passed through her mind as this came back to her. It had been so breath taking, so heartwarmingly sweet that even with all that had happened she was touched by its thoughtfulness.
This good feeling didn't last long, however, a chill she hadn't yet felt even standing in the nude setting goose bumps spreading across her body. She could have hit herself regardless of the increased pain it would have caused. Idiot! She was such an idiot! She'd kissed him and, of course, let it all flood back, all that hideousness she'd managed to lock away. Strangely though, she couldn't feel the same way about that night as she had. The fear, the sense of being unclean, were all still there, but that niggling doubt, the same one that told her she was missing something, kept gnawing away at the back of her mind. She realised with a sudden shock that she simply couldn't hate Battousai any more. Kami, maybe she was losing her mind.
Sighing heavily, she decided to let it all go for now. Her brain was just too fried to cope with this overload. Making her way steadily over to the crumpled, scruffy looking heap formerly known as her outfit, she grimaced. There was no way on earth she was putting those back on. Instead, she reverted to her earlier plan from the night before, scurrying as quickly as she could across to her room in her towel and hoping against hope that the large intricately carved wardrobe in the corner wasn't only for show and actually housed some wearable attire.
As she opened the door she half expected Battousai to be waiting for her, brandishing some article of his clothes so he could not so subtly ogle her in the utterly covetous way that made her stomach clench. Though, thinking on it, she doubted even he could find her attractive in her current bedraggled state.
Somehow, she managed to juggle the dirty bundle in her arms, the towel around her body and the finding of the light switch all in one go, a fact which made her very proud, considering she was also contending with the constant need to kill something.
The wardrobe yielded no fruits for her labour and even when she slammed the door hard enough to make the heavy object shudder violently, it remained stubbornly uncooperative. She felt like screaming, but knew that this would only send more painful jolts through her already abused cranium. So, instead, she contented herself with a harsh kick to the footboard of the equally abused bed, forgetting that her feet were in no better state than her head.
Howling in agony, she hopped backwards, trying vainly to keep both throbbing feet off the floor at the same time. She caught the backs of her knees on the end of the bed and flopped onto it, flapping her hands helplessly over her sore skin. She hated burns with an eternal loathing. The pain was always worse than broken bones or cut flesh to her, the sting escalating with each passing second and jarring through her nerve-endings every time she bumped the wound. She'd singed herself on various occasions slogging over the stove and she couldn't keep count of the number of times she'd given herself friction burn sliding in the dojo, but this was much worse. She must still have been drunk not to notice how much it hurt to walk around.
Finally, the searing ache subsided enough that she could ease the tension from her muscles. Deciding to cut her losses, she crawled weakly back under the covers, careful to keep her feet sticking out in the cooler air. This just wasn't her day. Maybe if she just abandoned it as a lost cause and hid here for the rest of her existence, it would all just go away. She buried her face in the usually silky texture of the pillow only to find cotton against her cheek. That was odd, her hands definitely felt silk. Frowning, she pulled back to find she was face down in a neatly folded pile of clothes. On closer inspection, they turned out to be the original set that she could only assume she'd left strewn across the bathroom floor when she and Battousai had gone up to the roof. Had the Battousai washed her clothes and then left them folded on her bed? The thought of the possessive, quick tempered man folding clothing in a laundry room made her snort. Her Kenshin had often done those sorts of menial chores, taking apparent pleasure in the repetitive, boring work she herself had had an allergy to, but she couldn't even begin to imagine the real self he had hidden beneath doing such a tedious task.
Standing ever so gingerly, she pulled the clothes on quickly. The world seemed somehow less horrific with the prospect of the coffee she could now make in the kitchen downstairs. She could nearly taste the sweet, all-important drink on her tongue and she couldn't resist a moment longer, feet be damned.
The journey to the kitchen was arduous, the pain in her feet and head increasing with each second she stayed upright, but when she reached the swinging door leading to her salvation, she hesitated. The sound of laughter filtered through to her ears and she paused, her hand against the wood. She felt suddenly as though she were intruding, butting in on a place she didn't really belong.
'Kenshin, man, seriously, that pink gi you started wearing to practice was great, the colour totally matched your eyes.'
Sano's voice was a choked gasp.
'Shut up, Sanosuke. At least I don't go around looking like I just put my finger in a light socket,' Battousai's distinct baritone responded.
There was a dramatic intake of breath even she could hear from the other side of the door.
'I'll have you know this style is a real hit with the ladies, man. They like something to run their hands through while I…'
'No, really that is more than enough information,' Battousai cut him off and their mirth resounded to her ears once more.
Kaoru's heart ached for a moment with the need to hear that carefree sound directed at her. She missed the way she and Yahiko would banter back and forth without meaning a word of the insults thrown, or the way she and Misao would play fight when her hyperactive friend woke her at ungodly hours to chat.
Sighing, she realised it must look very strange, her standing there, hand raised as if to push her way in, but for a long time she couldn't bring herself to do it. Finally, though, the need for caffeine and a sit down was too great and she forced herself inside, head bowed and shoulders hunched in an attempt to reach the coffee machine unnoticed. Her efforts failed miserably, however, and the second the door swung open the two men fell silent, eyes boring into her back as she passed.
'How are you feeling, Koneko?'
She made the mistake of looking up, startled, straight into intense amber eyes, feeling instantly as though she could sink into them and never find her way out. It made her angry that he could so easily make her melt, frustration pairing with pain to make her volatile.
'Shut up and leave me the hell alone,' she spat, narrowing her eyes.
A flicker of something passed across his gaze, amusement and dark possession. He found her offensiveness funny? She hurriedly pulled her gaze away and scanned the kitchen for her goal.
'We'll take that as a not very well then, Jou-chan.'
Sano sat at the island a large grin plastered across his smug face and she felt the urge to punch it off. Instead, she picked up a rolling pin from its stand on the counter and threw it at his head. Sadly, in her energy-sapped state, it only barely managed to reach him and he dodged it easily.
'You're a violent drunk, Miss Kamiya,' Sano laughed. 'And I have to say alcohol doesn't do your looks much good either.'
She was so outraged she forgot her reasons for coming in. Picking up a salt pot, she prepared to use her best baseball pitching skills, pretending that Sano's face was the catcher's mitt, but Battousai caught her wrist and gently removed it from her grip.
'Allow me,' he whispered, his voice like crushed velvet against the shell of her ear.
His breath tickled the sensitive skin, making shivers run up and down her spine as he turned to the obliviously chortling man. Sano was still letting his mouth run away with his brain.
'How much did you drink anyway? A bottle? Man, I should take you out some time, teach you how to really down your booze. Kenshin's a waste, couldn't show you nothing. He's almost as much of a lightweight as you…Argh!'
Battousai had wandered unnoticed past Sano, hooking his foot around the leg of his seat and yanking the high stool from under him. The fighter landed hard on the tiled floor and sat for long moments, apparently too stunned to move.
'Ouch, man, that was uncalled for! I was just telling your lady the truth, sheesh.'
Sano rubbed at his backside as he got to his feet, a mock scowl on his face.
Shuffling a little on her sore feet, Kaoru still felt a little flame of warmth flicker through her at the game and the sight of Battousai's eyes on her, twinkling with mischief. She was so focused on this change of expression, so boyish and yet so seductive, that it took her longer than normal to realise the signal he was trying to give her. He was egging her on to attack Sano while he was distracted. Happy to oblige, she picked up the wet sponge in the sink a little ways along the counter and lobbed it none too gently at the back of the tall man's head. It made contact with a squelching noise and then slid slowly down his back, water droplets trailing after it.
Hooting with laughter, she doubled over, ignoring the sharp flash of pain and dizziness the movement caused, too caught up in the priceless expression on Sano's face as he spun to look at her. So distracted in fact that she didn't notice him fish the sponge up off the floor and pull his arm back to throw. She did notice, however, when Battousai's strong arms lifted her clear off the ground, spinning them out of range as the sponge sailed passed to hit the wall with a splat. Closing her eyes against the way the world and her stomach lurched, she breathed deeply through her nose, thankful, when he finally lowered her gently to one of the still upright stools. She had a suspicion he'd done it on purpose just to get her off her feet.
'I told you I'd protect you, Koneko,' Battousai said in an amused growl.
She wasn't sure whether she should thank him for rescuing her from a face full of soap or kick his ass for reminding her of the way it had felt when the ceiling had merged with the earth. She was saved from deciding when Sano began to whine, really sulking now.
'No fair! You guys are ganging up on me! It's two against one! I need a hot chick to carry round!'
She would have burst into giggles at the sight of the tall, shaggy haired man kicking the island's table leg like the petulant child he not so secretly was if she hadn't vaguely begun to register the way Battousai's hand was still resting against the small of her back, its heat radiating through her layers of clothing. Throwing him a sidelong glance, it seemed he hadn't even noticed his own actions and it felt so natural and safe and she was so confused about everything that in her hangover weakened state she couldn't bring herself to pull away. In fact, worse still, without thinking, she found herself leaning into his warmth, the need for comfort and sympathy too strong to resist. A tiny thrill made her shiver as he drew closer, the hand slipping to tighten around her waist in a clear sign of approval. Raising her head, she found his molten amber eyes trained on her, an indecipherable look on his face. Her tummy jumped, for once not out of queasiness, and she wondered with the way he was gazing at her if what she'd seen in the mirror had improved since she'd come downstairs.
She nearly jumped sky high when the peel of a doorbell sounded through the house, breaking the spell that seemed to have been weaving itself around them.
'Welcome back to planet earth, love birds.'
Sano had once again pulled up his own stool, his elbows propped on the island and his head leaning on folded hands as he watched them.
She tried to scramble out of the semi embrace but Battousai pressed a hand to her shoulder, holding her still, before slamming out of the kitchen, his exasperated muttering audible through the swinging door. Sano laughed heartily, wiping fake tears from his eyes.
'Kitsune has the worst timing. She is not going to know what hit her.'
He seemed to take such amusement from this fact that Kaoru felt the need to ruin his fun.
'Time for breakfast! How about the same as last time? That turned out better than usual,' she said in an overly cheery tone, making to get up from her seat.
She wasn't actually hungry, especially for her own cooking, but she really wanted Sano to feel at least a little of the pain she was going through at that moment. The said man looked at her, horror-struck, his usual lazy slouch shifting drastically as he lunged across the island to stop her.
'Hell no, woman, you're not ever going near that stove again! What you made last time was not food, it was tar.'
He stuttered to a halt as she glared up at him, changing his tune quickly as he noticed the knife block unfortunately placed at her elbow.
'What I meant to say, Jou-chan, was you're not feeling well. How about I make you my super secret, never-failed-before, hangover cure?'
He dashed to the fridge, lifting half a dozen things from its depths before carrying them in a precarious stack to where the eggs already lay. She watched with narrow-eyed suspicion as he threw the miscellaneous objects into a bowl, stirred and dumped them in a blender. The resulting snot green sludge looked even less appetising than her own extremely poor efforts and it smelled almost as bad as it looked. Scowling with renewed vigour, she stared at it skeptically as he poured it into a glass and placed it proudly in front of her.
'You're trying to get your revenge for my cooking by poisoning me, aren't you?'
Sano simply chuckled and pushed the glass closer.
'I think I'd prefer some coffee.'
'Just drink it, Jou-chan. Coffee only makes it worse.'
'Fine, an aspirin then.'
'Drink it!'
She mentally calculated her chances of survival if she drank his concoction. On the one hand she was pretty sure if she died Battousai would skin him alive and give the rest to this Megumi woman to let her medical students experiment on, but on the other, did she really want to take that risk? A more pronounced throb to her head was her answer and, wrinkling her nose disgustedly, she drank it down. Shockingly, although it was slimy and slid down her throat in a most disconcerting way, it didn't taste half as bad as she'd expected. All the same, she consumed it as quickly as possible, slamming the glass down with a grimace.
'It'll take a minute but the headache should ease up soon,' Sano said to her distractedly and she looked over to find him using a large metal spoon to check his reflection.
She held back a snigger. Apparently Megumi was quite the challenge. At that moment the door opened and the woman herself marched in, her expression harried. She looked as elegant as ever, though, long black hair falling down her back in a wave of enviable silk. Sharply tailored trousers and a cream blouse were immaculately pressed, not a single wrinkle marring their clean-cut lines as she moved. Kaoru felt immediately scruffy and insecure in her black sweatpants and old grey tank top, her hair still damp from her shower and tied back from her face in a haphazard, straggly ponytail. Then again, looking at the stunning doctor, she had no doubt that the other woman would have the same effect on even the most carefully groomed ladies.
Stomping over to the island, Megumi dumped the black bag Kaoru recognised from the last visit on the marble surface and began removing medical supplies from it.
'Miss Kamiya, I do believe you are the most injury prone person I have ever encountered in my life. Perhaps I should just move in and become your personal physician. It would save me a great deal of time and petrol money.'
Before Kaoru had a chance to snark back, the red head-banded idiot jumped in.
'I think that would be a very good idea, Kitsune, but I think you'd find being my personal nurse far more rewarding.'
The doctor turned a searing glare on the tall man, a pair of sharp scissors held menacingly in her grip where she had been about to cut open a pack of bandages.
'Shut up, Tori-Atama, or I'll cut off something vital to your virility.'
Shaken, Sano gulped audibly and slid a little further along the counter away from her. Kaoru burst into surprised giggles, taking the other woman in with a newfound respect.
'Tori-Atama? Oh, I like that so much I could kiss it! It's way better than Red-headband wearing idiot!'
Megumi looked at her carefully for a second. She had disliked Kaoru ever since their last meeting, the combined forces of her difficult behaviour and Battousai's intimidation driving her as near to a nervous breakdown as she was ever going to allow herself. Yet, simply by speaking those words, the other woman had succeeded in clearing the slate, the doctor feeling immediately more generously inclined towards her.
'Yes, it's his hair and the fact that he's always crowing about some stupidity he's just committed.'
They laughed like old friends as Sano grumbled off to the stove to make some breakfast, Megumi smiling at Kaoru for the first time since they'd met.
Even so, once the moment had passed, she was all business-like efficiency, reaching out to take Kaoru's wrist to check her previous wounds. They seemed to be healing well, the bruising already changing to a more subdued blue-yellow shade and the angry red cuts pink and scabbing. Whatever ointment the doctor had put on them was a miracle and the young kendo instructor itched to ask her for the recipe, the only thing holding her back the still icily superior air that surrounded the other woman.
After cleaning and re-bandaging the injuries with a little extra care for her patient this time round, Megumi turned to the more pressing matter of her burned feet. Kaoru hesitated, despite her admiration for the physician's skills, not remotely motivated to repeat the painful experience of earlier that morning. Megumi sighed impatiently.
'I don't have all day, Tanuki. Show me,' she ordered.
Kaoru gave her a withering look at the new nickname, understanding the insult to her dark rimmed eyes, the consequence of many sleepless nights. She would have thought a doctor would have more tact. Pointing a foot at the elegant lady, she adopted a haughty manner, trying not to wince at the way it smarted at the doctor's touch. She might not be able to escape having her injuries taken care of but she could at least make the other woman feel as much like a servant as possible. Megumi rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well what she was doing and disregarding her prissy attitude in favour of accepting her cooperation. Grasping one foot after the other, she massaged some pale yellow cream into the flesh, careful of the raw skin.
'So how did this happen?' The doctor waved her hand at the now neatly wrapped feet. 'You know if you're not careful you're going to end up looking like Sh…'
Sano suddenly went into a coughing fit by the stove, his face turning as red as his headband. Kaoru looked at him with mild concern, but since the medical professional in the room ignored him, she deemed it safe to do so as well. He'd probably just tried to eat what he was cooking too quickly, idiot that he was. She waited for the other woman to continue, but she didn't.
'I knocked over some candles when I was on the roof and the cushions I was sitting on caught on fire. I didn't move in time.'
Megumi, who had been putting away her equipment, stopped abruptly and turned to look at her.
'The roof?' She asked nonchalantly. 'What on earth were you doing up there?'
Kaoru blushed lightly and began to contemplate the marble of the island's top very seriously. She should have thought of a cover story for this one.
'Well…you see…um…Battousai took me up there to look at the stars.'
She was too busy tracing the patterns of black and white to notice the dark glare Megumi shot at a sheepish looking Sano.
'I see. It seems that roof brings nothing but bad luck, doesn't it?'
Kaoru looked up at her confused, but Megumi didn't seem to be about to elaborate on this one either, so she let it go as just one of the lady's quirks. Then, Battousai walked in, his gaze immediately finding her where she sat on the high stool and everything else flew right out of her mind.
'If you are finished, I would like a word with Kaoru,' he said resolutely, the earlier playfulness gone.
Megumi nodded, snapping her doctor's bag shut and making her way back towards the door to the hallway.
'Yes, all done. Make sure to keep off those feet, Miss Kamiya. I don't want to come back and find them infected or inflamed. No pun intended. If you could just let me out, I will be on my way.'
Sano was at her side with a speed that put Battousai to shame.
'Allow me, Kitsune.'
He took her elbow and led her from the room, leaving Battousai and Kaoru alone in the kitchen.
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The icy silence that pervaded the space between them made even the usually boisterous Sano feel cowed.
'I don't have anything to discuss with you, Sanosuke,' Megumi said, pulling her arm from his grip and walking ahead of him towards the large front door.
Sano winced inwardly, to be called Sanosuke by the beautiful doctor was like the kiss of death. He was in way more trouble than he'd thought.
'Hey Kitsune, don't be like that.'
He caught up to her in two large strides and tried to step in front of her. She dodged smoothly and continued walking.
'What exactly should I be like, Sanosuke? Should I throw myself at your feet simpering and begging for attention? Should I feel flattered that you took me up to yours and Battousai's hook up spot?' She asked coolly.
She had tried being proud and aloof, pretending none of it affected her, and she was sick of it.
'Megumi,' Sano pleaded.
'No, don't worry. It's my fault. I should have realized that I was just another challenge. The thrill of the chase, right, Sanosuke? One in many for the playboy.'
She tried to even her tone, her voice sounding bitter and terribly hurt even to her own ears, but the dam had burst. Kami only knew why but she had started to open up to this man, had left herself vulnerable up on that roof and the second the kiss was over she was asked for cash to gamble away. Then to add to the humiliation she had now been told that Sano and Battousai took all the women they wanted to pull up to that roof to watch the infinitely starry sky. She felt like such a naïve imbecile.
'Megumi, listen to me a second!'
Sano blocked her path again and she tried to walk around him, knowing as she did so that it was useless. Even if she did get passed she would not be able to get through the locked door without his help. He grasped her firmly, yet at the same time gently, by the arm and spun her to look at him.
'Don't you dare insult me like that again, Megumi! I had every intention of never letting you go the second you gave in to me. You have to believe me, I don't want anyone but you!'
With that, he laced his fingers through her hair and brought his lips down on hers in a kiss.
Megumi growled angrily, biting down on his bottom lip as he slanted his mouth confidently over hers, a warning that she was still not happy, that he was going to have to make a hell of a lot more effort than this to win her forgiveness. A responding rumble vibrated against her hands and she couldn't help enjoying it.
Sano ran his hand boldly up her side to skim over her breasts and she moaned, raking her long manicured nails over his bare shoulders where she had pushed his white jacket aside. The pain made him groan softly, his free arm circling her waist to lift her more securely against him. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lip, but she played coy, refusing him entry as she pressed them more tightly together. Sano retaliated by lowering his hand to squeeze her behind, grinning against her as she gasped giving him the chance to slip inside.
Their tongues twined and danced in a battle for dominance that left them both breathless and warm. For a moment, Megumi was lost to it, the feelings and sensations running through her body drowning out everything else. Finally, though, she managed to jerk together enough self-control to pull back, bringing her knee up in a place that made him crumple and wheeze. She told herself that was her plan all along.
'You're going to have to do better than that, Tori-Atama,' Megumi informed him coldly, turning on her heel.
Sano opened and closed his mouth, the only sound escaping a strangled groan.
'Now, get your lazy ass up and let me out.'
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Kaoru sat, twisting her fingers round the bottom of her tank top, head lowered to avoid Battousai's eyes. She knew perfectly well what he wanted to talk about, had hoped he would just let her off. She had no wish to bring this back up right now.
'So, what happened last night, Koneko?'
He came to sit across from her and, though they weren't physically touching, his incredible presence was enough to bring goose bumps up on her skin. She noted vaguely that her headache had gone. Perhaps, Sano wasn't such a waste of space after all.
'I don't know what you mean,' Kaoru tried in a lame attempt to stall the inevitable.
He barked a low laugh.
'I think you know perfectly well what I mean, Kaoru.' At the use of her name, she made the mistake of looking up into his face again. His eyes bored into her own, dragging her in and preventing her from tearing her gaze away. 'I think I deserve an explanation.'
Her salvation came in the form of anger, red hot, mind-numbing anger. How could she know that every time she fumed like this, her eyes flashed in a way that made Battousai want to lean across the table and pull her against him, to change that look into something far more productive.
'Deserve an explanation?' she spat at him. 'You deserve nothing. I deserve not to have to deal with an unpredictable serial killer who won't let me go, I deserve to lead a normal life and I definitely deserve to be free of the nightmares of blood which plague my sleep and make me afraid to go to bed at night. You deserve nothing but the condemnation of the world for killing innocent people.'
The words spilled forth without her being able to stop them. She wasn't even sure she could bring herself to blame him for what he had done anymore but anger causes people to say things they don't often mean.
Battousai's eyes narrowed and his lips pulled back in a snarl.
'Kill innocent people?' His voice was deeper, hissed out between clenched teeth. 'Either you're under a gross misconception or you're calling the monsters, those so twisted by their own greed and influence that they believe they have the right to rape and steal, innocents.'
Kaoru stared at him for a moment. He was glorious in his rage, all roiling power and iridescent fury. She gulped and fought to retain her tenuous hold on her own ire. She failed. Her words came out shaky.
'How can I trust a man who calmly sliced another human being to pieces in front of my eyes?'
Confusion lit Battousai's gaze, changing the burnished amber to light gold, and Kaoru felt a wave of sickness wash over her that had nothing to do with her hangover. What must this man have done in his life not to remember turning another person into shish kebob? Finally, realisation seemed to dawn and he looked at her incredulously.
'He nearly raped you, Kaoru, how can you possibly feel empathy for that man?'
She turned her face away from him, unable to explain, and it seemed to incense him further. Grasping her chin, he jerked her face round to look at him.
'Don't you dare look away from me! How can you care about a man who pinned you down and tried to take something you were never willing to give? He took away your right to say no and yet you pity him his fate?'
Kaoru fought to remain impassive, even as horrible image upon horrible image was being forcibly replayed before her eyes. At her lack of response, Battousai seemed to lose all control.
'Very well, you want proof of the fact that I kill only the beasts who deserve to die, then I will give it to you.'
He was around the island and at her side in seconds, jolting her from her seat and into his arms with a snap of strong muscles. It shocked her that even in his haze of rage, he managed to heed the doctor's warning, keeping her off her feet as he marched them through the door. Praying desperately, her last hope was dashed as they came out into the hall, Megumi and Sano nowhere in sight to help her.
He moved so quickly the room blurred and she was jostled up and down. Once at his office, he kicked the door open, not even pausing before making his way over to the desk where he threw her down in the chair.
Going to a bookcase at the far end of the room, he simply shoved it aside as though it weighed nothing, books toppling from their shelves, revealing a large safe behind. He dialed in some numbers and swung the door wide. Inside it held file after file of documents which Battousai proceeded to heft and carry back to his desk. Dumping them unceremoniously on it, he turned to leave.
'Please feel free to peruse these at your leisure. Take all the time you need to establish my innocence. I want you to be quite sure of your conclusions.'
The door slammed shut with a force that made the furniture shudder.
Kaoru sat stunned and shaking for a long time before she managed to pull herself from her stupor. In the end she managed to clutch at enough threads of her composure to look at the files strewn across the desk in front of her. If Battousai was willing to provide her with the puzzle pieces she was missing, she was not going to pass up the opportunity.
With trembling fingers, she opened the first file and began to read the contents. They made her sick. She remembered this case, the politician Isao Takejima murdered on his way home from a late meeting in a seedier part of town. It had been established as a mugging gone wrong, but this file told an entirely different, horrifying story. Isao had been involved in the finance and control of several child prostitution rings, using the veneer of his high status within society to protect his sick needs. There were pictures enclosed of him doing things which made bile rise in her throat. She was forced to sit with her head between her knees for lengthy moments to prevent her losing what little she had in her stomach. It appeared that Battousai had found him on the way back from one of his many visits and had dealt with his heinous behaviour by running him through with his katana. How they'd judged it a robbery gone bad she had no idea, but she could only assume a cover up was involved to save the man's family the disgrace
The files after that were much the same, each one filled with details of the assassinations of men, and occasionally women, who had been corrupted by their own power, twisting them into creatures unrecognisable as the upright citizens they used to be.
She found herself reading new versions of the lives of the most influential, deceased people in Japan, and it appeared rape and prostitution were merely the tip of the iceberg. Human trafficking, children forced into slave labour for sweat shops, the debts of the poor exploited for organs to give to spoilt, wealthy westerners, it was all there and it all made her nauseous.
Her head spun as she slammed the wheelie chair away from the desk. She couldn't take anymore, she was not even halfway through the files laid out in front of her, but she couldn't handle the things she was reading and seeing. These were not people. These were demons, pure evil brought to life. How could this have been happening right under her nose? Her father had known some of these people. She had attended some of their funerals. Of course, it had all been swept under the rug. They had died of heart attacks, strokes, falls off cliffs, muggings, anything other than the truth. They had been monsters cut down for their sins and, even with her own beliefs, she knew, just as she had with her own would-be rapist, that it was right. She couldn't hate Battousai for what he had done.
She stumbled away to the opposite side of the room, hiding behind the armchairs as far from the vile documents as she could reach. Curling into a ball, she sobbed, trying not to be sick. Kami, the world was all wrong, her naïve view of life had been stripped away to reveal a warped new reality she couldn't even begin to deal with. Everything she had believed, everything she had known was a lie. People she had respected were creatures of darkness, people she had loved might be betraying her and the monsters she had thought lurked in the shadows were really dark angels protecting those who could not protect themselves.
She didn't know how long she stayed that way before she felt strong arms encircle her form, pulling her against a warm body that rocked her gently back and forth, soothing nonsense murmured against her hair.
'Forgive me, Kaoru, I should never have made you face that. I just couldn't bear to have you think that of me any longer,' Battousai whispered, tightening his grip as she let out her grief, mourning the illusion of a world that never existed.
Author's note: Review please and I'm serious this time people, that little button that says 'go' next to the bar that reads 'submit review' is very important. I love reviews and the more I get the more I want to write. My goal is to reach a hundred reviews just so I can do a victory dance on the table at school and embarrass my friends. Come on, everyone wants me to embarrass my beta reader, right?
Japanese Terms:
Hai- yes
Kitsune- fox
Koneko- kitten
Tanuki- Racoon