DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin is property of Nobohiro Watsuki, Jump Comics and Sony.
CHAPTER 1
They were attacked in the middle of the night in the celebration of her youngest brother's 10th birthday. It was a surprised and very well planned attack on the whole manor. Hooded enemies cleared the path for the bandits by killing soldiers who crossed their path. The bandits were so intent in reaching the family. Their goal was to eliminate the whole household.
The whole family was separated while trying to escape the terror that was going to destroy their quiet kin. Keiko Kamiya and her eldest daughter, Akie went upstairs to use one of the secret passages found in the master's bedroom; while Koshijiro Kamiya and his 2 children were intercepted and forced to hide in the kitchen.
Koshijiro locked the door behind him and pushed his youngest child and only son to a door hidden under a worn out tapestry. This door would lead towards the oldest and unused building in the land. He tried to push Kaoru to follow his son but his daughter was bent on helping his father in this fight.
Kaoru made sure first that no one was following his brother before facing her father. "Don't father. I am not leaving you. I will fight with you," she insisted to her father. "What's the use of me learning your sword ways if I am not able to help and protect this family."
"Kaoru, you have to hide and protect your brother," Koshijiro Kamiya ordered her youngest daughter. "He is the sole heir of this castle and if the enemies succeeded in killing me…" he was not able to finish because of the straggled cry of denial from her daughter.
"No father. You cannot die. I will not let you die."
"Daughter, I love you and will always love you," he said while holding his daughter's cheek. "You have to be strong for your brother's sake. He needs your strength and protection more than me."
"But father!" A loud crash and shouts were heard just outside the closed doors. Sounds of swords exchanging blows could be heard and bodies colliding interrupted Kaoru's denial. "Father, I…"
"Go daughter. I'll always watch for you wherever I may be. Run as fast as you could and don't look back. Hide and wait until help comes along. Promise me. " Kaoru nodded her assent. Upon seeing her daughter nod her agreement, he pushed her out of the room and locked its door. When he turned around, the door that separated Koshijiro and his daughter away from the warring men finally collapsed and brought in the leader of the attacker.
A man in hood entered the door alone. His cohorts were left outside of the room to protect their leader from the soldiers. He finally removed his hood to reveal his true identity to Lord Koshijiro Kamiya.
"You!" He could not believe his eyes when he finally saw who brought this horror to his family. "How could you? I trusted you! "
"Your mistake Kamiya is in trusting me too much," the leader mockingly replied. "Now, where is that son of yours?"
"You will neither succeed in finding my son nor taking over my land Kurosawa," Koshijiro replied.
"Yes, I will. Once I killed your son and married your precious Kaoru my ownership of this land will be binding and not even your death can stop it," replied Taki Kurosawa, Lord of the neighboring land.
"Over my dead body Taki Kurosawa," he furiously shouted his denial and fiercely attacked the leader of the clan that he thought to be his good and trusted ally.
After an exchange of blows and attacks, Koshijiro dropped on his right knee, his sword his only support,
"Why?" asked the injured Koshijiro. "Why do you want this land? Your land is bigger and richer than mine?"
Taki pulled the fallen clan leader by his shirt and whispered his real intent on gaining his modest land. "My deceased overlord whom I killed is buried in your land. I buried him here myself that night you saw me covered in blood."
Koshijiro's eyes widen at this revelation. "How? I was there at his funeral. I don't understand."
"The person who was buried was an old servant in the castle. My acting was great, wasn't it?" Mocked Taki. "My secret buried under your land will not be revealed ever to anyone as long as I own this land and I will make sure of that in any means possible." He thrust his sword to Koshijiro's heart, killing the man instantly.
After killing the land's Lord, Taki went out of the room and ordered his men to follow the path out of the door in the kitchen. He wanted his soldiers to find and kill the boy and to bring Lady Kaoru to him alive. "You know where to find me after completing my order."
He would return to his castle and change his clothes. The bandits he hired to kill the family were also now disposed off. Tomorrow he would act the part of failing to protect the Kamiya Manor and losing a good friend. He wanted to pat himself for another successful planning but he refrain himself. He would completely rejoice when the land belonged to him.
Kaoru ran as fast as her feet could take her without looking back. She needed to find his brother to hide him from the enemies. She needed to protect him.
Protect my brother. Protect Yahiko. These words kept repeating in her mind like a mantra. Something that needed to be remembered always, something that she mustn't fail to do no matter what the cost may be.
She could still hear faint sounds of fighting from the castle meaning she had run quite far from her home. Home Kaoru depressingly thought. My home is now destroyed. I don't know if my whole family is still alive. Her mind was slowly accepting the possibility that her parents and sister were now dead but her heart refused to accept it. Everytime she thought of them dead, her heart twisted in pain and denial but she refused to cry. She wouldn't cry. She would be strong for her family and most especially for Yahiko.
The sound of men running after her had caught her attention. She ran desperately this time to find Yahiko before these men found him and killed him. She could see the sinister looking building ahead. She rushed to the old buildings steps and frantically looked for Yahiko.
"Yahiko?" Kaoru whispered in the dark. "Where are you Yahiko?" She continued her search for her brother, not letting the darkness hinder. She thanked God for the moon that peeked from the clouds that provided a little light in the building.
"Yahiko?" Desperation could be heard in her voice when the sound of men following her had come nearer.
"Kaoru?" Her brother's quivering voice was heard in the farthest corner of the building.
Joy and relief flooded Kaoru's senses when she heard Yahiko's whispered answer. She dashed to her brother and tightly hugged him. "I was looking for you. Why weren't you answering?'
"I heard someone coming so I hid." His explanation was muffled by Kaoru's tight hug. "Then I heard you calling me. I made sure you are alone before telling you where I am."
Yahiko's expression became forlorn when he asked of their family's whereabouts. "Where are they Kaoru?"
"C'mon we've got to hide. There are men coming here." Kaoru grabbed Yahiko's arm as she tried to pull him away from his hiding spot to find a better location to hide. She ignored Yahiko's inquiry of their family.
After a few moments of silence, Yahiko asked Kaoru again. "Where are father, mother and Akie?"
Kaoru did not answer Yahiko as he pushed him up the staircase.
Yahiko stopped and faced Kaoru. The despair and fear she saw in his eyes broke Kaoru's already tattered emotions. She held him securely close to her heart, calming herself and trying to stop her tears from falling. "I'm here Yahiko. I will not leave you. I will protect you. I will keep you safe. I promise."
Yahiko nodded, understanding their situation. But tears still fell of his eyes as he tried to suppress his sobs.
Kaoru wanted so much to just curl up and hold Yahiko and let him cry; however, this wasn't the time and place for that. There are still enemies after them for a reason Kaoru couldn't fathom. I will not rest until I know the real reason behind this nonsense killing of my family. Kaoru vowed to herself.
They found a hidden cabinet behind a closet in one of the upstairs bedroom. It is a perfect hiding spot, but only for one.
"It's small. It can only fit one." Yahiko stated the obvious.
Had this been under a different circumstance, Kaoru would hit Yahiko on his head for his obvious remark. "I can see that Yahiko," she exasperatingly answered. "Hide inside and don't make a sound," Kaoru ordered his brother.
"But what about you?"
"I'll be just fine. I will find another hiding spot." They both heard the set of footsteps downstairs. "Hurry, get inside. Don't get out of this closet unless it's me. You understand?"
"Yes," Yahiko said with tears in his eyes. "Kaoru…"
"Be brave Yahiko. I'll be coming back to you. I promise." She closed the cabinet and firmly closed the closet. She silently walked out of the room to escape the men coming up the stairs.
Kaoru remembered seeing another staircase on the other end of the second floor hallway. She silently went straight ahead to find the stairs. She prayed so hard that the soldiers wouldn't see her escaping. When she reached the end of the hallway there was a very steep and cramped stairs. She was having second thoughts when she heard a shout inside one of the bedrooms. Without thinking of the danger, Kaoru went downstairs. Unknown to her, she narrowly escaped the soldier sent after them.
"Damn it," one of the soldiers shouted from inside one of the rooms. He saw an open bedroom and decided to look inside with the hope that Kamiya girl and her brat brother were inside. The room was very dark so he did not notice the old chest in the middle of the room. His knee bumped into it.
"What was that noise?" asked another soldier walking in the hallway. He thought he saw someone at the end of the hall and was about to follow it when he noticed a bird flew past it. Deciding that it was just a bird, he went inside the bedroom where he heard the shout.
"A stupid chest was left in the middle of the room. It was probably used by some soldiers during daylight." The two soldiers walked out of the room and did not bother to check the partially opened closet across from where they stand.
"Did you find anything upstairs?" Someone asked from the hall below.
"Nothing up here."
"I saw traces of footsteps outside going to the forest," a soldier bellowed from the courtyard. "Those two were probably too scared to get inside an old dark building and decided to run to the woods.
The leader of the group nodded to his subordinate. "Bring four soldiers with you and search the woods," he ordered. "The rest of us will return to the castle to report to Lord Kurosawa."
The two groups separated and went to different directions.
Meanwhile back in the old building, Kaoru found herself in an underground route. She followed the path and felt her way by staying close near the wall to her left. The darkness heightened her fear that she would not get out of this alive. She thought she would be killed by a snake, a trap or worse by the soldiers.
Kaoru did not know how long she walked in the darkness of the passage. She felt a wall blocked her path and lost hope of finding a way out without going back. She decided to look for another way by letting her hands wander around her and was elated when she felt stairs a few feet to her right.
She went up the stairs and felt a door when she reached the top. Please let this door be unlocked I need to get to my brother. She pleadingly whispered to her maker before pushing the door with all her might. God must have heard her prayer, the door burst opened.
She found herself in front of another building albeit relatively smaller than the main building. She did not waste time in getting her brother back. She checked the vicinity to make sure that were no more soldiers before running straight to Yahiko's hiding spot.
"You bunch of good for nothing idiots!" Taki angrily shouted to his soldiers. "You let a mere slip of a woman and a little boy escape. " He walked to one of the soldiers and pushed him on the ground. "You find her and the boy. I don't care where or how." he furiously ordered. "Now go. I don't want to see your faces without those two or a severe punishment will await all of you."
His soldiers quickly left the great hall to avoid his ever increasing wrath. His fury upon knowing that a defenseless woman and weak boy had escaped an entire group of 10 soldiers he sent after them. You are far cleverer than I imagined Lady Kaoru Kamiya. Taki said to himself. You did not disappoint me but your fiery temper and stubborn ways will be tamed once we wed. He filled his cup with wine and offered a toast to Kaoru Kamiya. "I look forward in taming you Kaoru."
TBC
AN: So what do you guys think? This is my second story to post and the first multichapter. Please tell me what you think. Your reviews will give me an insight on how to better write the upcoming chapters. Thanks!