Okay I'm a liar… I didn't update as quick as I wanted '' But out of the blue I got a plane ticket to Hong Kong and my life went from summer cool to plain old hectic. And since I'm going to be halfway around the world for three weeks without my laptop… well the next chapter might take a while. But hey there's no cliff-y at the end of this one :] See you guys later ^^
"Thank you, Kenshin."
With that, they stared into the distance in silence, the fireflies twinkling around them.
Next Day~
"Hey Sano," whispered Yahiko to the street fighter, "Do you think something happened between Kenshin and Kaoru last night?"
"Eh? No… I don't think so. Why do you ask?" He gave the young boy a puzzled look.
"Well… ever since this morning they've been exchanging glances and smiles at each other. It looks like they're finally aware of each other's feelings."
"Ya think? But I feel like Kenshin's too dense know unless Jou-chan told him flat out. But she wouldn't have the guts to do that."
Yahiko laughed, wiping tears away from the corners of his eyes. "I guess you right. Those two lovebirds are still as clueless as ever."
Meanwhile, Kaoru sat on the porch as Kenshin hung the washed laundry. They exchanged cheerful comments about the weather and what they'd like to eat. The placid atmosphere, however, was slashed in half when an arrow ripped through the air and struck the wood behind Kaoru, nicking the right side of her neck in the process. Moving on instinct, Kenshin's eyes darted towards the direction of the arrow's origin and saw a passing shadow of what seemed like a man. Ripping the cloth that bound his sleeves back, Kenshin sprinted after the shadow. Kaoru grabbed the note that was attached to the arrow and joined in on the chase.
Sano and Yahiko had arrived on the scene just in time to see Kaoru dashing off. In their momentary confusion, they stood like statues until Yahiko saw the foreign arrow wedged in the house. Coming to the realization that something was definitely wrong, the young boy chased after the girl with the fighter-for-hire following close behind.
Despite Kaoru's head start, Yahiko and Sanosuke managed to catch up to her. "Ya Jou-chan, what the hell is happening?" Then, he noticed blood running down her neck, staining the collar of her kimono. "You're bleeding!"
"I'll… explain after… we catch him!" Kaoru said in-between huffs, never glancing at her companions.
Slowing down to match his pace with Yahiko, Sano said, "Oi you follow Jou-chan while I get Foxface to look at her wound." Yahiko nodded and Sano quickly turned around to head towards town in search for the doctor.
Kenshin pursued the shadow through the green woods, quickly catching up to the mysterious man. Once they've entered a small clearing, the shadow turned around, wielding two short swords, and proceeded to throw one in Kenshin's directions. Dodging the flying sword with ease, Kenshin unsheathed his sakabatou and knocked the masked man down in one fell swoop. As if on cue, Kaoru and Yahiko make their appearance and rush over to Kenshin's side, breathing heavily. The man at their feet lay motionless.
"Kenshin?" asked Kaoru as soon as she caught her breath. The red head nodded and bent down to remove the mask. Much to their disappointment, they uncovered an unfamiliar face. Kenshin began to question him: Who are you? Who sent you? What is your purpose? However, all the stranger spouted was random nonsense. He laughed insanely, squirming on the ground before shouting, "Kya hahahaha! You've stepped into the trap! She'll die! Another victim… another victim… the butterflies have been ignited!" He made a grab for Kaoru, but failed miserably and flopped over onto his stomach. Turning on his side, the stranger writhed in pain and continued to shout, "DIE! I don't want to die! Why? You green clothed bastard! Kill her now what don't you! Kill her now, K-" and with that he died before finishing his sentence. The trio present stood in shock; Kenshin wrapped his arms around Kaoru and pulled her close to cover the corpse from her view.
At that moment, Sano appeared with Megumi who was holding her medical kit. Breathing heavily, the couple came over to access the situation. While Yahiko explained what had happened, Megumi tended to the wound on Kaoru's neck and then proceeded to inspect the dead corpse.
"Poison…" the young doctor simply stated after thoroughly examining the dead body, "Either he took it when Ken-san was chasing him to avoid giving away details or someone had injected it into him prior his mission." She stood up and faced the group. "It's much more likely that someone had given it to him." Her gaze hardened at that thought.
"Ah Kaoru-dono," exclaimed Kenshin as he remembered something.
"Yes?" she replied.
"Was there something attached to the arrow?"
Kaoru, who had forgotten about the note, looked down at her hand. Clasped in her fist was a white piece of paper folded several times over. Slowly, she unfolded it and read aloud its content: I'm closer than you think, girl. The past is going to catch up with the remainder of the Kamiya line soon. Your time is almost up"
A shiver ran down Kaoru's spine even though it was a rather warm day.
"Have you received other notes, Kaoru-dono?" The girl nodded and told them about the first: Kamiya Koshijiro and Kamiya Kiyoko's daughter will soon meet her demise in the origin. You will suffer greatly, just as what your existence has done for me.
Attached to the first note was a lock of ebony hair much like her own.
Hearing this, the group gasped in shock and Kenshin's face darkened. Why? He thought. Why would someone be so disgusted of Kaoru-dono that he would want her to die?
"Alright," said Megumi, "Tell us your story." The other girl nodded and told Megumi, Sanosuke, and Yahiko the shortened version of the love triangle between her parents and the man named Nobuo.
"So all this is about love?" squawked Yahiko. Personally, he thought it was a completely absurd reason.
Ignoring Yahiko's comment, Megumi asked, "Do you think it could be Nobuo himself?"
"No Megumi-san," replied Kenshin, "Nobuo should be dead, or at the very least, a very old man. I do not think he is capable of such a feat."
"But if he has money, he could easily hire someone to carry out his plans."
"He didn't get the money," interjected Kaoru, "Dr. Gensai said that after his younger sibling married before him, the inheritance went to his younger siblings instead of him. Apparently, Nobuo didn't get a single yen."
"Then where did he go afterwards?" asked Sano.
"I'm not sure. Dr. Gensai said he disappeared into thin air. There were rumors that he went to the shore and killed himself, or that he left with a group of passing wanderers, or that he took what little amount of money he had and fled to Hok…" Kaoru was interrupted when a snap of a twig was heard in the distance.
"Who's there?" they all said simultaneously. From behind a tree, Katsu stepped out and greeted them with a smile.
"Now, now. What's with this hostile atmosphere?" he said while walking towards the group.
"How did you get here?" questioned Kenshin as he and Sano moved in front of the group.
"Well well you know just strolling through the woods, listening to the birds. And then I heard some noise coming from this direction and decided to check things out 'tis all."
Not believing a single word that came out of the man's mouth, Kenshin continued to ask the man, "How long have you been standing there?"
"I just got here after all that running." This they knew was a lie because Nobuo was not breathing heavily nor sweating. Not wanting a fight to break out, Kaoru placed a hand on both man's shoulders and whispered softly so that only they would hear, "I'll go talk to him. You guys should make a grave for him so that he would be able to pass on in peace." She walked towards Nobuo before Kenshin could protest.
"Yahiko, please follow Kaoru-dono." The young boy nodded and ran off. While Kaoru talks with Nobuo, the others created a grave for the stranger on the edge of the clearing and gave him their prayers. Just as they were finished, a loud smack was heard from where the other trio was talking. They saw Yahiko falling to the ground and Kaoru, who stared in shock, turned angrily towards Nobuo and raised her hand to slap him. However, Nobuo caught her hand before it made impact and she struggled to make him let go. In a split second, Kenshin is by Kaoru's side and he used his sheathed sakabatou to knock the man's hand off Kaoru's.
Unaffected by the red-head's speed, Kaoru quickly turned to Yahiko, seeing if he was okay. Megumi and Sano got to where the conflict was then. Sano placed himself next to Kenshin, both in an offensive stance facing Nobuo. Instead of looking scared or reaching towards his sword that saw on his left hip, Nobuo merely put his hands into his sleeves and laughed into the sky, walking off towards the woods.
"Nobuo!" shouted Kaoru, "Where are you going? You never answered anything!"
"Blame that brat for being there then."
"What are you talking about?" hollered Yahiko, who was being treated by Megumi, "If I hadn't been there you would've… Ouch! That hurts!" He frowned at the doctor who scolded him for moving so much. Kaoru got up with the intention of making Nobuo talk.
"See you later Kaoru. Maybe next time then." With that, the man walked off into the darker part of the woods.
"Well… What was that?" pondered Sano, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.
"Something Kaoru should explain," answered Megumi. "Now what the heck happened when we were giving the stranger our blessings?"
Apparently, Kaoru had confronted Nobuo in a rather straightforward manner. She quickly asked him how long he has been spying on them and how he got to the clearing. Caught off guard by the questions, Nobuo simply said that he saw them running out of the house and followed. He found them during Kaoru's story about her parents past and the rest was as followed. However, both Kaoru and Yahiko knew that they exited through the back of the dojo and the young boy rejected that statement. Annoyed at him, Nobuo changed his story to him walking into the woods because he thought he saw some animal and then spotted Kaoru running. The story was frowned upon and the excuses grew more creative. Finally, Yahiko interrupted the man and accused him openly of being a creeper and had something planned. That's when Nobuo's fist connected to Yahiko's cheek.
"Nobuo-san is indeed a violent man…" sighed Kenshin, still bothered about the entire situation and inwardly thought There's something else isn't there. The others agreed with his statement and decided to head back to Kaoru's dojo, after Kaoru and Yahiko made their blessings to the dead stranger. On their trip back, Yahiko suddenly remembered something; the other side of the man's sleeve was green, but this information was not passed onto the others because it was forgotten after Kaoru nudged him on the back, telling him he was moving too slowly.
"Busu…" he muttered.
Alright-y so this is the end of this chapter and since it's two in the morning for me, my grammar/story-telling ability/proof-reading is at a minimum right now. I'm sorry if something became confusing or redundant or didn't really make sense '' If any, state your confusions with this chapter in reviews or something and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! See you in a few weeks ^^''