BWAHAHAHA I'm back! (with a new chapter!) Hmm… I wonder what will happen now~ Sorry for the long wait!
After the strange encounter, several weeks pass by and there is no sign of Katsu. It was almost as if he had merged himself with the shadows after walking into the forest and is now waiting for the perfect moment to squash the mirage of peace at the dojo. Thus, beneath the surface of the smiling Kamiya Kaoru was a soul in blinded turmoil. It was inevitable.
Trapped in a constant state of worry and baseless fear, Kaoru was near her limit. A week prior, the young girl began to have violent nightmares that had her thrashing around in her slumber and waking up in a mess. Kenshin appointed himself the task of attending to Kaoru whenever she moved around while sleeping It had been bad enough that once, the man needed to tackle the girl and hold her down while Yahiko went to bring Megumi to her. Kaoru had sleepwalked into one of the storage rooms and began to break anything her hands touched thus injuring herself.
That was the worst it had gotten, but with Kenshin by Kaoru's side each night while she fell asleep, she gradually became less restless. "Don't worry Kaoru-dono," Kenshin whispered to the sleeping girl, "I'll definitely protect you no matter what."
xxXxx
The following evening, Yahiko was walking back to the dojo after finishing his part-time job at the Akabeko. He was whistling a short tune he learned from Tsubame and carrying some wrapped leftovers back to Kenshin and Kaoru. Suddenly sensing an odd presence, he quickly turned around and shouted, "Who's there?" Seeing no one in the dusk lit street, he scowled and began to walk again when out of nowhere, a sack was placed over his head. Yahiko punched and kicked randomly, hoping to touch his kidnapper, but it was futile because he soon fell unconscious after taking a hit at the base of his neck. The kidnapper quickly carried the boy away and all that was left at the scene was the spilled food and birds that gathered to begin a feast.
xxXxx
"Mou…" complained Kaoru to Kenshin the next morning, "Where did that Yahiko go? Not coming home last night was already worth scolding him for, but being late for morning practice? That's just rude and disrespectful!" She placed her hands on her hips and fumed.
"Now, now, Kaoru-dono. Please calm down," replied Kenshin as he sweat-dropped, "I'm sure he just overslept at Sano's and is now rushing back."
"He better be or else he'll face my wrath!" The vile look on Kaoru's face even had the ex-manslayer move a few inches back; hoping he would blend with the scenery and avoid any misdirected fury.
"Yahiko…" thought Kenshin to himself, "You better hurry back or else you'll really lose some hair this time!"
After a few minutes, the young girl slowly calmed down. "Ne Kenshin…you wouldn't think something… might've happened to Yahiko… would you?"
But before Kenshin had a chance to respond, a pigeon landed itself several feet away from the couple and it looked at them. Noticing the scrap of paper attached to its ankle, the rurouni (while trying to be a little goofy in hopes of cheering Kaoru up) went near the bird and made a grab for it. The pigeon dodged the man and landed next to Kaoru, leaving an "oro-ing" Kenshin on the ground. The mistress chuckled and proceeded to detach the note off the messenger and read the words that were written within. "Kenshin!" she gasped in horror, "Look!" The man quickly became serious and took the note from Kaoru.
"I have your precious apprentice. If you want him to live, come to through the forest and find us." That was all it said.
"Kaoru-dono, let us go now!" The girl nodded and grabbed her bokken. Quickly, they ran through the thick forest, skillfully avoiding the branches and roots that seemed to hold the desire to slow them down and prevent them from reaching their destination. After a full nerve-wrecking hour, the couple reached a split in the road; one leading towards a dark cave and the other towards a broken down shed.
"Kenshin, should we split up to cover more ground?"
"Kaoru-dono I do not think that is wise to do. Yahiko's kidnapper might be waiting to ambush us." And I'd prefer to be there if that happens, Kenshin finished in thoughts.
"What if there's a tr…" Kenshin cut Kaoru off by motioning her to be quiet.
"Kaoru-dono can you hear that?" She closed her eyes and focused on the sounds around her. In the distance, she could hear muffled cries. Kaoru exchanged looks with Kenshin and without making a sound, dashed towards the shed. Kaoru banged on the door and tried to turn the knob, but it did not show any signs of budging.
"Yahiko? Yahiko! Is that you? Give us a moment, we're breaking in!"
"Kaoru-dono, allow me to…" The young girl ignored her companion and kicked the door down in one-shot. "Break the door." Although, Kenshin sweat-dropped at the girl's tomboyish ways, inwardly, he fell deeper in admiration for her.
"Yahiko!" she exclaimed after the debris cleared up. The young boy was tied up on the floor with a piece of thick cloth stuffed into his mouth. His eyes were wide and he kept on shaking his head at them while struggling against the ropes. However, Kaoru failed to notice that and hurriedly ran to his side.
"Wait Kaoru-dono!" screamed Kenshin as Kaoru moved forward. He reached to grab for her arm, but it was too late. The floor wobbled and then collapsed underneath them and the trio fell downwards towards the abyss.
xxXxx
The air was foggy, smelled of musk, and filled with dust. Kenshin sat up slowly and looked around. They had fallen at least 10 feet from the surface. Where're Kaoru and Yahiko?! thought a panicked Kenshin. He saw them to his right and scurried over, ignoring the slight pain in his left ankle. Kaoru had her arms protectively around the boy and they laid under several pieces of broken planks. The rurouni called their names and tried to wake them up while lifting the light wood off of them, but they wouldn't stir. Slowly, even he began to feel sleepy and fatigued. Crap, there's something in the air here… Kenshin struggled to keep his eyes open, but he soon fell down next to the others and before falling unconscious, Kenshin heard a sick cackling that came from above and was too close for comfort.
Wow… this was a lot shorter than I'd thought it'd be. Anyways until next time! (And to prevent me from taking another 2 months I'll be starting the next chapter now!) Reviews are nice… hehe
Note: Kaoru has nightmares and is like that in the beginning of this chapter because Nobuo was someone she trusted and never imagined him containing such an odd behavior. In other words, she's unconsciously afraid of him and what he would do to the people around her. I don't know I thought it might've been confusing for her to randomly start having nightmares and such so I decided to explain it here.
Also... I just realized that I mixed up Nobuo and Katsu To make things clear (mostly to myself *nervous laughter*) Nobuo = present; Katsu=past