So Kenshin, Kaoru, and a tied up Yahiko all fell down a hole and fainted. What happens when they wake up?
Glossary:
Velvet flowers – Amaranthus caudatus, a.k.a. "love-lies-bleeding"; it symbolizes hopelessness
Mint – symbolizes suspicion
Uwagi – The white top of Kaoru's training attire
Nobuo – means faithful and trustworthy
Inside a large, Western style mansion located on the peaceful outskirts of Edo, the rooms are dimly lit by the blinding sunlight that rested in the sky just above the house. In one of the numerous rooms, an unconscious Kenshin and Yahiko are each tied up to wooden chairs. Their arms are wrapped around the back of the brown seat with their wrists bound tautly by ropes; their ankles were tied to the legs of the chair. A clock's constant ticking eventually stirred Kenshin and he groaned as he slowly became more awake. His violet eyes fluttered open and took in his surroundings. The center of the room held large couches, desks, a small table that held an expensive looking vase filled with velvet flowers and accompanied by what looked like mint leaves. The walls were all filled with paintings and lined with shelves, except for one which had a large window hidden behind reddish brown curtains laced in gold thread. On one of the shelves lies Kenshin's sakabatou and Kaoru's bokken.
That blew away the remaining fog in Kenshin's mind. He looked to his immediate left and right and only saw a still sleeping Yahiko. "Yahiko! Yahiko!" he screamed in a hush voice while struggling against the ropes. Kenshin was afraid that if they were too loud, someone might come in and knowing he wasn't in any position to fight or defend, the rurouni wanted to avoid that possibility as much as possible. Thankfully, it didn't take long to bring the boy into reality.
"Ken…shin?" he said groggily.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm alright. But my head hurts. What happened? Where are we?"
"It seems that someone kidnapped you and used you to lure Kaoru-dono and I out. We fell for their trap," he replied glumly. If only I was able to stop Kaoru-dono…
"Kaoru… then where's Kaoru, Kenshin? I… I remember that we fell together. She took the impact of the fall for me. Kaoru must be injured!" Panic crossed both of the male's faces, but Kenshin quickly hid it.
"Then we must hurry," said Kenshin darkly before swinging his arms forward to remove the knots at his ankles.
"Wait, how did you do that?!" exclaimed Yahiko. He was sure that the older man was tied up the same way as he was. Kenshin freed himself from the stiff chair and began to untie Yahiko.
"While you were waking up, I found a splint in the back of the chair. I used it to cut the ropes," Kenshin said nonchalantly while loosening the last rope that held Yahiko to his chair. "Let's go now."
The young boy nodded back in amazement. While Yahiko went towards the door, Kenshin went to the shelf and checked his sword. Seeing that it was in perfect condition, he slid it to its rightful position on his waist and took Karou's bokken. He stared at it longingly, wondering whether or not she was alright.
"Kenshin! The door's locked! I think we need to break it down." The rurouni walked over and agreed with the boy. Giving the bokken to Yahiko, Kenshin drew his blade, reversed it, sliced the door clean in half, and used his foot to break through. He swallowed a wince when he placed all of his body weight on his left foot. After stepping out into the corridor, they went to search every nook and cranny of the mansion. They found furniture upon furniture, but no signs of Kaoru and their captor. Hell, there wasn't even a single soul in the gargantuan estate! Kenshin became more flustered as they opened door after door and there still wasn't any sign of anything. Finally, the trap door beneath the stairs was discovered by Yahiko and the two of them together pulled it up to reveal a pair of stairs going downward. Peering in, they could see faint torches luminously lighting the secret passageway. Yahiko and Kenshin looked at each other and nodded, knowing they were both thinking the same thing. Cautiously, they entered; Kaoru and their captor would be at the end of the tunnel.
xxXxx
Kaoru woke up with a start. Sweat ran down her temples and a cold chill trespassed through her sore spine. She was tied to a wooden chair in a dark and damp cellar that smelled of iron and humidity. The only thing she could see was a small light in the distance and nothing else. Kaoru struggled against the ropes that bound her to the chair and managed to get the ones around her foot loose, but then, she heard a door open and close; she froze. She saw a figure with another light approaching the one she could see and when the figure turned the corner to meet her, Kaoru's eyes widened in shock.
"Nobuo…" she breathed out in astonishment, but quickly regained her composure. She needed to focus; this man was dangerous.
"Hello Kaoru-chan. Welcome to my house." He gave her a devilish smirk.
"Sorry for intruding…" she muttered back while glaring at him. "Where are Kenshin and Yahiko? If they're hurt, you'll pay for it dearly."
"Well hasn't this little girl grown… threatening someone as soon as you see them."
"Answer me, Nobuo. Where are they?"
"Who knows. But I'm sure they'll come soon enough," he shrugged at her and began to light up the other torches, illuminating the whole room for Kaoru to see. There were stacks of spears and poorly made swords lined up here and there; the floor was caked with dust and dirt and she could see a rat-like creature move beneath it. Chains hung from the low ceiling and when everything was light enough for her to see, streaks of dried blood coated the walls in patterns. "Isn't this place just lovely, Kaoru? I've been dying to show it to you."
She wanted to vomit. Everything about her situation right now just made her completely nauseous. Was this really the young boy she knew from her days training at the dojo? "I'm charmed…" she spat out in reply.
"Now that you've seen this place, why don't you answer a few of my questions?" Nobuo walked closer towards her and kneeled down so that they were at the same height. Kaoru fought back the urge to spit in his face. Why would he need to place her friend's lives in jeopardy just for her to answer a few of his questions? "Where can I find your father?" That was his question?! Why the hell did he need to see her father?
"Why do you need to see him?" Nobuo slapped her across the face; he wasn't going to let the girl waste any of his time.
"I ask the questions here. You only need to answer them. Now tell me, where can I find that bastard?"
Blood dripped down the corner of her mouth. "I won't let you find him…" Nobuo grabbed the collar of her uwagi and forced Kaoru to look into his eyes. He repeated the question, but Kaoru's answer was still the same. "I won't let you disturb his grave."
Hearing this, Nobuo froze. Dead? There was no way he could be dead! He hasn't fulfilled his goal yet! He shook the girl violently. "You're lying! He has to be alive… how could he be dead…?"
"I'm not lying. He was summoned to help during the war and he died." Nobuo loosened his grip and sank down. He asked about her mother. "She became very sickly after giving birth to me. She passed on shortly after my father left." Nobuo was at a lost. What should he do now? It hadn't occurred to him that both of her parents would already be dead. Should Kaoru fulfill her parent's position then? He may have despised Kaoru (since she was the Kamiya heir and despite being a girl, she was always stronger than him in kenjutsu), but it wasn't her fault... was it?
Feeling his anger dissipate, Kaoru decided to ask him why he needed to see her father. "For revenge," Nobuo replied. "Do you know the story of how your parents met?" She slowly nodded, now curious to know what he had to do with the meeting of her parents. "Well… then you must know about Nakamura Katsu. He's my father."
"Your… he's your father?" It took a moment before that simple fact could be fully taken in by Kaoru. "If he was your father, then why did you attend our dojo? That doesn't make sense!"
"But it does. My father sent me there to become close to you and your family so that we can tear it apart from the inside. Obviously, it didn't go as planned. You know, he said to me that it was an expected result."
"And that's why you left before finishing your training… but I still have another question. I heard that Katsu went to Hokkaido. There wasn't anything about him coming back to Edo."
"That's because he didn't. He sent my mother, who was still pregnant at the time, back here. He was looking for the ruby butterfly… for your mother." She gave him a quizzical look; he sighed in an annoyed tone. "You always need everything explained. My father had hoped that by finding and presenting the hairpin to your mother that everything will be reversed, that she will go live with him instead of your father. And yes, I know I said before that I was the one looking for it, but that was a lie. I had originally wanted to use that story to lure you and your parents out, but seeing the man that was next to you, I changed my mind. Got it now?"
"But why are you the one looking for revenge instead of Katsu?" The calmness in Nobuo faded and his violent nature ate away his patience. He was being questioned, and he didn't like it.
"Why you ask me? Because my whole life has been trapped in the depths of Hell! Everyday, being treated as some tool and taking commands from letters…letters. My father only visited us when he only felt it was necessary and when did he feel it was necessary? When we decide to stop following his orders and live a normal life. It was your fault that we couldn't live a normal life. It was the Kamiya's fault that we were chained to that monster." A dozen emotions flickered across his glazed eyes until it settled onto one feeling, bloodthirsty. "And you'll be the one to pay for this dearly."
Kaoru tried to sit further back in her chair and she struggled against the ropes that bound her wrists. She had to get away from this man and find the others! She heard a door open in the distance. "Well, looks like they finally decided to join the party," scoffed Nobuo. "Why don't we give them a greeting, Kaoru-chan."
xxXxx
Kenshin and Yahiko slowly stepped down the spiraling stairs, with Kenshin leading. They strained to hear what was going on at the bottom, but Kenshin could only pick up faint murmurs. Before they reached the last steps, the duo heard a man say, "Hurry and come out now. I know you're there. Wouldn't want to keep the lady waiting, now would you?" Exchanging glances, they hurriedly rushed down the stairs and stopped when they saw Kaoru and their captor. Nobuo was standing behind Kaoru with a short dagger positioned at the base of her neck. "Welcome to my home."
So this story is coming to its end… (Or is it?) and I would just like to thank my reviewers and readers :] Every time I open up my e-mail and see a new notification for reviews I always get that happy feeling in my chest. So I would just like to thank you all and I've been telling myself to do this at the end of every chapter I post, but then the ideas for the next pop into my head before I even finish the chapter so everything just ends up rushed and incorrect. (Like me switching up Nobuo and Katsu… sorry if that was confusing!) Anyways I'll try my best to keep the plot as suspenseful and entertaining as I possibly can and I hope you'll enjoy reading it! Thank you for your time! (=^^=)
If I have any grammatical errors or misusage of words please notify me! (Or if something doesn't make sense) It could prove to improve my vocabulary and speech.
By the way, Nobuo was PMSing at the end. He's just this weird dude who can't control his emotions... :P