Author's note: Wow, I just cannot seem to stop writing this fic, even when I'm supposed to be freaking out about my exams like my profile says. Ah well, it's all my English exams fault, getting me in the mood to write. Guys, I just spent the last eight hours writing with only occasional pauses to eat and drink, it is now two o'clock in the morning and I'm exhausted, I think I deserve some reviews! Anything will do, I'm officially addicted to them.
Chapter Seven
Misao slouched back against the alleyway wall, watching her last chance fade into the crowd of passers-by. The meeting had gone exactly as all the others had and she was left with a list of crossed-out possible candidates.
It seemed that all her contacts were willing to help the enthusiastic young spy at first. Even underground criminal networks found it hard to say no to someone as bright and persistent as her, but at the mention of the objective they all inevitably ran for the exit so fast she didn't have time to blink.
What exactly had she been expecting though? This was the Battousai, infamous and near unbeatable in a fight. He could undoubtedly take all one of these men at once, wearing a blindfold with one arm tied behind his back.
She sighed deeply, tugging on the end of her braid out of habit while she thought. There was only one person left and she didn't want to go to him. He was infuriating, self-important and she'd rather stab herself in the eye than owe him a favour.
An image of Kaoru's limp body disappearing out of a window came to her mind. She could have screamed in frustration. Her friend needed her, but to save her she'd have to make a deal with the devil. Of course, that was if he even chose to help her anyway.
She nearly jumped out of her skin as something began to vibrate in her back pocket. Frowning in confusion, she pulled out a sleek black phone and put it to her ear. How the hell had someone managed to slip her notice and get that in there?
'Misao.'
Her heart stuttered. She hadn't heard Aoshi-sama's cool voice in days when she was used to hearing it constantly. Kami, she missed that man. The pang subsided rapidly, however, with his next words.
'Misao, come back,' Aoshi commanded, his voice brooking no argument. 'You do not understand what you are dealing with.'
The sense of betrayal took her breath away and for a second she couldn't form words. Aoshi didn't say anything and she knew he was waiting patiently on the other end of the line for her submission. He didn't get it
'No. Hannya told me I was free to do this.'
'Hannya is not your Okashira,' Aoshi said and she could have sworn it sounded as though he spat the words.
It can't have been that though. It must have been a bad connection.
'You do not understand. There is a plan in place. If you go in now you will ruin it. Return to headquarters and…'
She didn't wait for the rest of the sentence, flipping the phone shut, dropping it to the floor and crushing it beneath her boot with clinical efficiency. Then she walked out of the alleyway and into the crowds milling beyond.
She squashed the hurt beneath the massive wave of anger she felt. Her leader not only believed her incapable of saving Kaoru, but, worse still, he thought she would wreck whatever scheme he had set up to do it for her. He believed she would fail. She would not.
She didn't have a lot of choice any more. It was either him or face Battousai alone, because there was no way that she was going back to face Aoshi-sama and Hannya without Kaoru at her side.
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Kaoru sat in the middle of a bed she didn't recognise, eyes wide open. He'd insisted on bringing her there after the incident in the office, saying that she needed to rest. She hadn't argued, too out of it to do much of anything really. Anyway, he'd seemed so frantic about fixing what he'd done she doubted he'd have listened. It seemed like she was spending half her life asleep, or at least passed out, these days.
She hadn't slept though. He'd gently carried her trembling body up the flights of stairs and along the corridors like she weighed no more than a China doll and when they'd reached the room, he'd lowered her ever so carefully down onto the mattress as though she really was made of porcelain.
The look on his face as he'd taken in her pallor and her tear streaked cheeks was enough to break her heart. It was a look of such pained guilt, such intense regret, that she'd almost felt it in herself. It reminded her a little of an expression her Kenshin used to get, only different somehow. This one was firmly lodged in the here and now, while the other had seemed to trap him far away, haunted. When he'd caught her gaze on him he'd immediately bowed his head, his hair falling forwards to obscure his eyes from her view.
Her perception of him had been so altered that she found herself unable to bear his suffering. Just as with her old Kenshin, she wanted that look to fade away. Without further thought, she'd lifted a hand to brush his bangs from his eyes and gently traced the strong line of his jaw, offering a comfort by physical touch that she could not yet vocalise in words. The amber of his eyes had lightened to a straw gold with his surprise and she'd hastily drawn away. The movement had been unpremeditated and it had shocked her almost as much as it had him. It was a telling motion, showing how much her view of him had changed, and she'd seen the flicker of hope in his eyes before she had dropped her gaze to the floor.
Now he was gone, having murmured some soft words about food, and she was left alone with her thoughts. She didn't regret what she'd found out. To have lived so long in a world she hadn't truly seen made her feel stupid and naïve. She would rather live her life with her eyes wide open, capable of doing something, than keep the rose tinted spectacles the rest of society still wore. She'd known that there were people like this, real life monsters, but they'd always been in the abstract, bulletins on the news and front page stories in the papers. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like to be burdened with this knowledge, to see these peoples' faces parading on the covers of magazines at fancy parties knowing what they'd done. A wave of pity washed over her for the man who she had so recently considered one of these creatures. He was their creation, the killer needed to stop their rot from infesting the rest of humanity, and she couldn't blame him for that.
Resting her head back against the cushioned headboard, she allowed her eyes to roam the room. It was dimly lit by the bedside lamp she'd turned on, the thick curtains closed against the light outside. It was the first place in the house she'd been in alone that had windows. They weren't big, but they were there. The sudden urge to see out of them, to see the outside world, made her heart ache. It seemed so long ago that she'd been locked away in this prettily decorated cage and so many things had changed since then. She'd changed.
She threw the covers away from her body and swung her legs over the side of the bed. It was only a short distance and she wanted so much to look outside. Tentatively touching each foot to the floor, she winced at the red hot needles that jabbed into them. It seemed to have got worse since the last time she'd been on them. Apparently the ointment for burns did not work as well as the cream for her hands. While they still bore the marks of the wounds, they no longer hurt. She wasn't giving up though, her eyes firmly locked on the prize.
Pausing long enough to let the initial pain subside, she was about to take the next step forwards, when the door opened and Battousai walked in, carrying a tray of dishes. They both froze mid movement, her foot suspended comically in the air and his mouth open as though he was about to call to her.
Between one blink and the next, she was swept up into the air against his chest, a very well-muscled chest she couldn't help feeling. She gasped in shock, floundering at first to find steady ground, before stiffening in his embrace.
'What do you think you're doing?' She growled in a very good impression of the man himself. 'Put me down. Now!'
He chuckled, inadvertently sending a shiver down Kaoru's back at the deep, warm sound.
'I don't think so, Koneko, you know Megumi's orders. Until she tells me otherwise you will remain off those feet.'
Kaoru huffed angrily, lashing out at him in her embarrassment. Even holding her, he still managed to avoid the blow and she ground her teeth in frustration.
'Now where were you off to when I came in?' He asked, eyes twinkling in amusement.
Apparently her actions earlier had brightened his mood, she noted sourly. They stood for long moments in silence, Kaoru sulking and Battousai waiting patiently for her answer, eyebrow raised. Finally, the smell of bacon and eggs wafting over spelled her doom. Her stomach growled hungrily and she blushed, spying the food waiting on a little table in the corner. How had he got the tray over there so fast? The man was a whirling dervish!
Even with her obvious interest, however, it seemed Battousai wasn't going to let her have it until she spoke.
'I was going to look out of the window,' she grumbled.
To her surprise, he plopped her back down on the bed and she opened her mouth to protest loudly. She hadn't eaten since her ill-fated attempt with Sano and that had ended up more in her hair than her belly. He wasn't abandoning her to her starvation, however, instead walking over to lift the table and its chair closer to one of the windows before taking her to join them.
'Eat, Koneko,' he said simply, smiling at her shock as he opened the curtains for her to look out.
The room lapsed into silence after that, broken only by the soft sounds of chewing and the scrape of cutlery. At first Kaoru was too absorbed in the delight of her taste buds as she practically inhaled her food, but once the last of it had been mopped up by the golden brown toast laid beside the plate, she turned her gaze to the scene outside.
The bars behind the glass made a checkered pattern, partially blocking her view, but she could still see the beautiful reds and oranges of autumn beyond. A breeze gusted against the branches of the trees, making the branches sway, and she watched some of the leaves come loose and float down behind the boundary wall. It was a peaceful sight and she sighed happily. It wedged in her throat though when her eyes caught a small figure crouching amongst the foliage.
'What is it?' Battousai asked, concerned, coming over to stand beside her from his lounging position on the bed.
Turning back to look at the spot where the person had been, all Kaoru saw was trees.
'Oh nothing,' she said, laughing awkwardly. 'I guess I'm just seeing things.'
The red haired man didn't seem convinced, moving to the window to gaze out suspiciously. It gave Kaoru the chance to rearrange her expression and think of something to distract him. She could have sworn, even from this distance, that it had been Misao.
'If I'm not allowed to walk, can't you get me a wheelchair or something?' she blurted.
She was anxious to draw his attention away, but this was also a question that had been weighing on her mind while she'd been eating. She'd do anything to avoid the awkwardness and mortification of being carried around like a baby.
A disturbing thought hit her then and her face contorted in horror. If he lugged her round all day, what would happen when she needed the toilet? The wheelchair suddenly sounded like an even better idea.
'Why would I get you a wheelchair when carrying you around gives me a reason to hold you? It would defeat the purpose entirely,' he told her, a wicked smirk on his face.
Kaoru scowled up at him. The words were sweet, the expression not so much.
'Not having a reason has never stopped you before, Battousai, and what exactly am I supposed to do when I have to go to the bathroom?' She grouched and he laughed genuinely for the first time since she had become reacquainted with him.
It was a rusty sound, as though he was no longer used to doing it.
'Don't worry, Koneko, we will figure something out.'
She gave him a very skeptical look, but he ignored it.
'So where would you like to go now?' he asked, scooping her up so quickly she didn't have time to struggle.
Kaoru froze in the act of opening her mouth to swear at him. She hadn't really got a chance to just relax in a long time, especially in this place where every time she set foot downstairs something happened to freak her out and she inevitably ended up waking in her darkened bedroom with a searing headache. What she really wanted to do was practice her sword style, something else she hadn't done in ages, but she highly doubted that Battousai would let her do that when he wouldn't even let her walk.
She caught him watching her with a slight, tender smile and she realised her face had scrunched into the look of intense thought her Kenshin had always found so adorable. Since they were the same person, she supposed Battousai must feel the same way.
'I guess I'd like to check out the library,' she said quickly to hide how flustered this thought made her.
He nodded, his bangs once again falling into his eyes in the way that would have driven her completely nuts. She felt an irrational sense of disappointment at the loss of the brilliant incandescence of his gaze, a chill pervading her as though it were his eyes that heated her skin. She shivered imperceptibly but he seemed to notice, holding her closer to his warmth as he made his way out of the room.
The doors stretched out before them in what seemed like an infinite corridor. It was probably just one of the many she had seen on her tour of the house, but with the embarrassment of being in Battousai's arms it seemed a lot longer distance to the main staircase than usual. These musings reminded her of her new living arrangements and she began to wonder for the first time why he had taken her somewhere else.
'Why wasn't I in my room?' She asked bluntly, apparently drawing Battousai from his own thoughts.
'I wished to keep you closer to me, Koneko,' he responded simply, the mischievous smirk once again in place. 'Besides, I took the demolition of your bed to mean that you didn't like the one you were in.'
She felt a slight blush colour her cheeks at the memory of the remains of her headboard littering the carpeted floor.
'Well, if you hadn't chained me to it your precious bed wouldn't have had to suffer that fate,' she said defensively, her eyes flashing angrily at him. 'And what do you mean you wanted me to be closer to you?'
Battousai shrugged as best he could while carrying her.
'Come now, Koneko, you can't tell me that you wouldn't have tried to escape if I hadn't chained you to the bed? Granted you tried anyway, but it was my fault for underestimating your willfulness.' He smiled almost fondly and her flush increased tenfold. 'I really do need you to stick around.'
Kaoru opened her mouth to ask why that might be, but he continued before she got the chance.
'As for your question, your new room is beside my own. Perhaps if I get lonely during the night I will pay you a visit. You can also return the favour whenever you wish, of course.' He laughed happily at her dumbfounded expression. 'Ah, Koneko, I have missed you.'
The words were whispered so quietly she wasn't sure she was supposed to hear them, but they made her feel a heady sense of elation that was only dampened by the shock the emotion caused her. When had she begun to feel joy in Battousai's presence? Excitement, yes, fear, certainly, but not happiness. A little voice in the back of her head told her it was around the time she realised she'd been wrong and he wasn't the cold hearted, murderer of innocents she'd thought he was. This annoying little voice continued by informing her that she was a hypocrite, that she was betraying her principles by saying it was all right to kill some but not others. Yet, just as with her would-be rapist, she could feel no pity or anger on behalf of these people who had given up their humanity and, in her opinion, their right to sympathy. It did, however, make her feel slightly guilty and it was at this point that his earlier words filtered through the haze of her thoughts.
'No, you will not be visiting me ever, at all, never while I'm asleep, got me?'
She poked him hard in the chest, taking full advantage of his inability to move away to inflict as much damage as possible in warning. It appeared to hurt her finger more than his chest, however, since he didn't even wince at the hard jabs and she was forced to stop her assault to rub the aching digit. Scowling at him, she elbowed him roughly in the solar plexus instead, causing him to yelp and nearly drop her.
'What was that for?' He gasped out, the twinkle in his eyes belying the outrage in his voice.
She chose to ignore the sneaking suspicion that Battousai had let her wind him in favour of feeling gratification at having got her revenge.
'That was for hurting my finger,' she pouted, waving it in front of his face crossly.
She suddenly found herself seated in one of the randomly placed chairs along the corridor. She assumed they were there not just to break up the monotony of the long hallways but also to work as landmarks for where in the heck you were in this fortress.
'Let me kiss that better for you,' Battousai purred.
Gently grasping her hand, he lifted the still pointing finger and brushed it lightly with his lips, his smoldering eyes fixed on her own dazed gaze. She gasped softly as he tentatively flicked his tongue out to pass over where his mouth had touched, and before she could form a coherent thought she was back in his arms and moving once again, his low chuckles hardly registering in her desire-fogged mind.
She was so distracted by his actions she didn't even realise when they reached the main stairs and then the library. She only came back to herself when she was carefully settled on one of the many comfortable velvet sofas that filled the room. Battousai stood in front of her, regarding her with a look of smug male satisfaction, her obvious preoccupation with his attentions pleasing him.
'I will get you a book, Koneko.'
He turned and walked into the stacks, not even bothering to ask her what sort of book she might be interested in. She was not upset by his arrogance, however, breathing a sigh of relief at his departure, and taking the time to compose herself and her rapidly beating heart.
She relaxed back into the soft plush of the sofa, lifting her legs to rest over the arm and contemplating her neatly bandaged feet. Her sudden injury prone turn was really getting on her nerves. Her wrist no longer hurt, but was beginning to itch as the skin knit itself back together and her feet were plain agony to walk on. She had to admit that she appreciated the care Battousai was taking with her, although she would never say as much to the overbearing man. There was no doubt in her mind that, if she had been forced to manage alone, she would have caused herself more damage in her stubborn refusal to give in to the pain. A twinge as she pressed her foot too hard against the armrest told her just how right she was and she bent her knee to smooth gently across the bandages keeping her from the tender flesh beneath.
When Battousai had yet to return a few minutes later, she began to wonder whether he had just left her there to see how long it would take her to get bored. She was about to go and fish an intriguingly bound dark red book from one of the nearest shelves, hurt feet be damned, when he appeared around the edge of the same bookcase, holding a stack of leather bound tomes in his hands.
'I think these should interest you,' he said, dumping them on the low coffee table strategically placed beside the sofa.
She turned to peruse his findings, a doubtful and somewhat superior smile curling her lips. There was no way he could know that she was looking into the arcane sword styles of the Sengoku period, paying particular attention to the samurai of that era and most especially one by the name of Uesugi Kenshin. She was, therefore, taken aback when she found the first on the pile to be the book she had been reading back at the safe house before her capture, and the ones beneath it to be ranging around that same topic.
'How did you know?' She breathed, hoping against hope he hadn't realised her specific attraction towards a samurai of the same name as himself.
It wasn't that which had drawn her attention to "The Dragon of Echigo." It was his prowess on the battlefield and his amazing strategic skills, or at least that's what she told herself. She fingered the covers of the books in awe, picking them up cautiously to flick through the pages.
'You were reading "The History of Sengoku Sword Styles" when I came for our reunion, were you not?' He shrugged negligently, as though he assumed that everyone would notice these sorts of tiny details while coming to kidnap former lovers. 'I thought that, perhaps, you would find some further titles in that area interesting.'
She gaped at him openly for several moments, before the pull of the enticing books drew her eyes away and into the realm of ancient battle styles. She was so caught up in her reading that she didn't notice when Battousai delicately lifted her feet to rest in his lap, opening his own book.
She didn't know how long they sat there, each absorbed in their own heavy historic tome, before she shifted and accidentally smacked one of her feet against the armrest again, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them with a pained yelp. She tried to curl her leg up against her body to massage the painful spot but Battousai quickly caught her ankle.
'Rubbing it will only make it worse, Koneko,' he stated firmly, as she yanked her leg, trying and failing to loosen his iron grip.
When she finally gave up, letting her limb go limp in a sign of defeat, he smiled, raising his hand to massage the tight muscles of her calves where she had tensed with the pain. An involuntary purr slipped from her lips and she slumped back against the cushions behind her, closing her eyes and murmuring incoherent encouragements. He chuckled quietly, reveling in the way she was opening herself up to him again. He deepened the press of his fingers against the yielding flesh and earned a soft moan from her lips. The smile that had been on his face faded slightly, transforming into something more intense with the sound, and he let his book drop on the little side table beside him to allow both his hands to work on making her release that noise again.
By this point Kaoru was as floppy as a sleeping child, her body sinking as far into the plush cushions as possible and her head lolling to one side, her face the picture of bliss. His nimble fingers were a sin, seeking out all the knots and strain she had gained through her years of kendo training and soothing them away.
'Hmm, Kenshin,' she murmured, and his hands instantly froze.
It took a moment longer for her groggy mind to realise why he had stopped, but when she did, she too tensed up. It had been a very long time since she had last said that name aloud. She tried to pull away, feeling suddenly caged, but he was having none of it. Trapping her ankle in his grip he returned his other hand to her calf and began caressing it, tracing invisible, intricate patterns on her skin. She forced her eyes up to meet his own and promptly wished she hadn't as she was ensnared in his fiery gaze.
'I don't mind, Koneko,' he said, his voice roughened with some great emotion. 'I want you to call me by my name and not my title.'
Kaoru swallowed hard, uncomfortable with her sudden three-sixty turn in feelings towards this man. She was used to the way his touch made her heart skip and her breath catch, but this new reaction was scary, a welling of some indecipherable sentiment constricting her chest. The brush of calloused fingers snagging slightly on her skin did nothing to clear her mind either, distracting her from finding its source. She needed him to let her go.
'Battousai, release me,' she ordered sharply.
He shook his head, intense eyes still trained on hers. It took her a little time to understand what he wanted from her and then she growled under her breath.
'Kenshin, please would you let me go,' she ground out from between clenched teeth.
He nodded, a beatific smile spreading across his face. The warmth in her chest swelled further at the way the expression chased away the shadows in his gaze. She couldn't bear to steal this newfound joyful aura from him, especially since she seemed to want the same thing he did. She settled herself more comfortably on the sofa and left her legs in his lap, lifting her book to cover her red face. Kami, she felt like a teenage girl again, taking the first tentative steps towards confessing her affection to a crush.
It took several minutes for the tension between them to fade, but finally they lapsed back into the peaceful atmosphere of before.
She was reading a passage in one of the more up-to-date books, contrasting the traditional katana to the guns of the modern day, when a question that had been nagging at the back of her mind forced its way forwards.
'Batt…Kenshin,' she began warily, waiting patiently for him to look up at her. 'May I ask you something?'
He nodded equally warily and she took a deep breath before continuing, knowing full well that it would shoot the calm in the room all to hell.
'Why is it that you use a katana rather than a gun to… ?' She couldn't find a word that didn't sound judgmental so she trailed off.
Battousai stiffened, his eyes probing her face for information she wasn't sure she was giving. He appeared to be trying to work out whether his answer would scare her, but in the end it seemed he decided to chance it and tell the truth.
'Even monsters deserve to face death head on and have the possibility to defend themselves,' he said gravely, watching her for her reaction.
'Are you calling yourself Death?' she asked incredulously and he smiled wryly.
'To them I might as well be,' he answered with that same solemnity that made her fight the urge to fidget in her place.
She wanted him back to his old self. Cheerful or seductive, it didn't matter as long as it took away this sudden sobriety. She decided it was time to play on his natural ego to pull him from this funk.
'What happens when you meet someone who's better than you?' she asked, a sly smile twitching the corners of her mouth.
Battousai seemed to catch on to her attempt to lighten the mood and latched onto it happily.
'I don't know. I have never encountered anyone who could match me,' he said, puffing his chest out in a show of pride. 'I doubt I ever will.'
She laughed and he turned mock hurt eyes on her, scowling. She shrieked as he abruptly lunged at her, careful to avoid bumping her feet, and began tickling her. She giggled, wriggling to escape his grasp and it was only his skill that prevented her from hurting her feet.
The door to the library slammed open and against the wall and they looked up, gasping for breath, to find Sano standing there, looking slightly uncomfortable and apologetic. Kaoru scooted back and lowered her feet, embarrassed as she realised instantly what they must look like to an outsider. Battousai was leaning over her, his face mere millimetres from her own and they were both flushed and out of breath. The red head growled low in the back of his throat, eyes flashing up at Sano in a promise of some excruciating retribution if he didn't have a good reason for interrupting them.
'Sorry about this, man,' Sano said sincerely, backing further out the door with his hands held up placatingly. 'But they think they've found…'
He trailed off, looking pointedly at Kaoru. She was busy pretending that nothing had happened, book pressed so close to her face the words must have merged into one big blob.
Battousai's gaze sharpened and he shot from the sofa.
'I will return shortly, Koneko.'
She nodded, dropping the book just enough to be polite and he darted her a look of longing that told her all she needed to know about his wishes. Then he followed his friend from the room, carefully closing the door behind them.
It was a long time before he returned and when he did, he was no longer the same. The playfulness was gone, replaced by a pensiveness and distraction that concerned her.
They stayed in the library for most of the day, Battousai leaving only occasionally to bring them food. She only had the mortification of asking him to bring her to the bathroom a couple of times and by the second they had established enough of a routine that she dreaded the process a little less. He would carry her to the small downstairs toilet and she would be allowed to walk the few steps inside and close the door. When she was finished she would simply come back out and he would lift her back into his arms. She supposed that when she wanted to wash herself it would go much the same way, only taking a bath instead of a shower.
She didn't pry into whatever was bothering him, worried that it was a mission she wouldn't want to know about. However, with his sudden distance, she could no longer focus on the books in front of her, the agitation making her antsy and desperate for the movement she was denied. Kaoru was one of those people who needed constant occupation when nervous or upset. If she couldn't have it, the perturbation became increasingly violent until finally she would explode on the next hapless person she saw. Unfortunately for Battousai, he was the only person in the vicinity, so all her energy was directed solely at him. It was probably a good thing though, since a normal person would have suffered a severe concussion when they were unable to dodge the six hundred page book aimed at their head.
This interlude appeared to snap Battousai from his temporary state of catatonia and he decided that it might be about time to have a change of scene. They ended up being coaxed into watching a very cheesy and incredibly gory martial arts movie with Sano, during which numerous people were beaten to death. Although it was a bad film, joining Sano in ridiculing the awful plot and even less plausible fight scenes did serve the purpose of filtering away some of the nervous energy that had mounted within Kaoru. So by the time ten o'clock rolled around, she was dozing off with her head resting against Battousai's chest.
After that first tension filled day, an unspoken schedule seemed to develop in the house. She would wake to the smell of freshly cooked food laid out on the little table and Battousai leaning by the window, looking at the world outside. Once she'd eaten, he would leave the room while she dressed, though that concession had required a long drawn out session of banter and, though she wouldn't admit it, flirting. Then he'd take her to the bathroom and let her move around alone for the bare minimum of time it took her to do her morning ablutions. For the rest of the day they'd be in the library, only stopping for short snack breaks. In the evening they would settle down in front of the large plasma screen television in the sitting room with Sano to watch one of the many kung-fu movies they had in their collection.
It was a rare time of peace in what had been one of the most terrifying points in Kaoru's life and she found herself steadily letting go of a little of the dread she'd built around silence. She still got the familiar pangs every time Battousai closed the door to her bedroom at night, but the thought of waking to another relaxing, people-filled day seemed to ward the worst of it off. She actually found sleep now.
Two weeks passed quickly in this way. Yet the tranquility couldn't last forever and it was inevitably shattered the morning after a visit from Megumi, who informed them that Kaoru was fine to be back on her feet.
She woke to find her breakfast laid out as usual and a present resting on the pillow beside her. She nearly cried with relief as she ran her hand up the smooth, polished wood of her bokken. The guilt at the thought of it burning up in the fire had been eating at her and she hugged it to her like a child finding a lost pet. Now she could finally practice.
She danced out of bed, enjoying the lack of pain at the enthusiastic movement. Scarfing down her food as fast as she could without choking, she was dressed and out of the room before the door had had time to fully swing open. She dashed down corridor after corridor perfectly confident now in her ability to find her way to her destination. Her bokken was a delicious weight in her hand and she couldn't wait to swing it through the air and make it sing.
She skidded to a halt outside the ballroom door, taking deep steadying breaths; she had obviously become more unfit than she had thought.
Kaoru swung the door open and her breath caught in the back of her throat as it went bone dry. Battousai was in front of her, shirtless and glistening with sweat as he slid across the polished wood of the ballroom floor, the shining metal of his katana hissing through the air. Even from distance she stood, she could see the intense concentration in his eyes, turning them a fiery shade of burnished bronze.
She swallowed hard, her eyes trailing over the body she had already seen before, but which was made all the more beautiful after her separation from it. It was true, absence really did make the heart grow fonder, or at least it made the body lust a heck of a lot. Tensed muscles slid beneath the skin of his back like iron under silk, as he sliced through the air with another powerfully arcing stroke.
His control was a thing of beauty and she stared in awe as he dropped low only to whirl back up stabbing forwards and then slashing to the side as if the invisible opponent had dodged his blow. Her eyes were once again drawn from his fighting style to his body, as his sweat slicked ponytail flicked away from his back and she watched a drop of sweat slide down it, dipping into the curves and sinews of his lean form, before disappearing into the waistband of his sweats. She licked dry lips and tried to draw a vaguely intelligent thought to her mind.
'Did you want to join me, Koneko?' Battousai asked, not even faltering in the next move of his complex kata. 'Or perhaps you would just like to watch me.'
Kaoru blushed a fetching shade of tomato red, but stepped forwards and fell into her defensive stance all the same. Battousai stopped to look at her, before going to a rack hidden behind the bar to pull out a bokken of his own, leaving his metal katana to one side.
'Bring it on, Big shot,' she goaded, crooking a finger at him in a deceptively come hither manner.
Battousai's eyes sparked with a darkness that made the hairs rise on the back of her neck. The adrenaline instantly began pumping through her veins, preparing her for the fight ahead. Kami, how she had missed this feeling. She didn't have time to take a breath before he was in front of her, her instincts the only thing saving her from finding herself on her backside, as she lifted her bokken in a sloppy block, the harsh cracking sound of wood hitting wood reverberating off the walls. The aftershock vibrated through her arms and she had to grit her teeth against the pain.
They moved across the floor at incredible speed, bokkens whistling through the air, meeting and parting in an elaborate dance of skill and iron will. She loved the fact that he challenged her, forced her to push that much harder, move that much faster in a way no one else ever had. She had fought him only once before and it had been a memorable experience. In the end she had had to resort to dirty tactics to get even a single hit on the unbelievably talented man.
Kaoru sliced through thin air, the man she had been aiming at slipping easily out of reach and smiling tenderly at her in a way that made her growl.
'Quit patronising, Kenshin, and just fight me.'
He laughed and came at her with a speed that snatched the air from her lungs. She blocked his blow, falling into the practiced backwards and forwards of defense and attack. Her bokken moved like an extension of her arm, she had become so used to it in her hand. Yet, still she felt the light touch to her leg, signifying that Kenshin had got a hit as he always did in the end.
She snarled, baring her teeth impressively and Kenshin raised an eyebrow at her. It was time for more underhanded techniques if she was ever going to make a hit on the infuriating male. Her eyes scanned the room and fell on the only decoration, a vase her godfather had given her as a congratulations present for the opening of her dojo, she had always hated it. Well, she could just kill too birds with one stone then. She grabbed and threw it in one quick motion. Kenshin caught it on reflex, his eyes widening in comic surprise.
'Oro, Kaoru-dono?'
She was upon him in a moment and the dance began again, only this time Kenshin had the added disadvantage of the vase in his arms. She had him on the defensive, forcing him to block and parry while trying to avoid breaking the delicate porcelain. Then she saw it, a drop in his guard, it was infinitesimally small, but it was all she would need. A triumphant smile spread across her face as she went in for the kill, her bokken hissing through the air as it came down.
The sound of wood hitting wood rang through the silent room and she could have cried; he had managed by some miracle to defend against her swing. She watched in shock as he caught the vase, which he had thrown up high into the air, and gently tapped her on the shoulder with his bokken.
'Shall we call it a day, Kaoru-dono?' he asked, a hint of smugness hidden beneath the veneer of humble politeness.
In that moment, she snapped. How the hell had he got himself out of that situation and still kept that hideous vase intact?
She stomped her foot angrily, before lunging at him and doing the one thing he would never expect; she kissed him. She heard a muffled 'Oro' as she took control, sliding her tongue against the seam of his lips and gently slipping in when they parted on a groan. The vase and bokken fell to the floor as Kenshin wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her closer. The vase shattered into thousands of tiny shards and Kaoru gave a little sigh of relief as its ugliness was removed from the world.
She smiled in victory as she lightly tapped Kenshin on the leg with the bokken still held in her hand. Pulling away, she laughed happily.
'You owe me a boat ride, Kenshin.'
He pulled her back against him and chuckled.
'If that is your tactic to win, Kaoru-dono, I think I will fight you more often,' he said against her lips.
They sat with their backs pressed against the wall, both breathing heavily and sweat trickling down their cooling bodies. Kaoru felt utterly satisfied, her muscles aching in the way only a great workout could give her. She slid down until she was lying on the ground, looking up at the ceiling.
'Koneko, there is something I must talk to you about,' Battousai said solemnly. She turned her head to look at him and found that he was staring dead ahead at the windows across the room. 'Sano and I must go away for a while. There is some business that requires are attention.'
Kaoru felt a little unwell. Did that mean they had a mission?
Intense amber eyes were suddenly trained on her face, as though he were trying to look into her very soul.
'You must promise me that you will not leave this house, Kaoru. Promise me that you will not try to escape in my absence.'
It was the way in which he used her real name rather than his pet name for her, paired with the sudden fear in his voice, that told her that he was deadly serious and she couldn't help but give her agreement to the terms. It wasn't like she wanted to be anywhere else any more anyway. She had grown to like it here with him over the past few days of captivity.
He pulled her against him almost roughly, as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.
'I could not bear to lose you, Koneko,' He murmured softly against her hair.
The question was, why would her leaving the house mean losing her?
Author's note: Voila! Read and review, a poor author's work. No seriously, press that little button that says 'go' by the bar that says 'submit review' and write me a message, anything will do, just feed my addiction please.
By the way, the samurai Uesugi Kenshin is an actual famous daimyo from the Sengoku period, you can check him out on wikipedia if you're interested. Also for Japanese terms you can look back at previous chapters, they're basically the same.