Hello and welcome to chapter nine of Death's Beauty! The great battle between the four members of Tadashi Tsubeta and the Kyoto branch of the Yakuza is just before us. And what of Kenshin? Will he rescue his beloved daughter, or is it already too late? Find out now!

Tori…

My mind raced ahead of my already fast moving feet as I ran towards Kyoto. Kaoru's words came back to me: 'An assassins blood never truly dies once one redeems themselves, rather it waits for the next generation to be born.' She was right, and now our daughter had inherited that cursed blood. That sweet little girl, that I had watched grow up into a beautiful woman had turned down the path of a blood covered murderer. I still remembered when she had been little, the night when she had had a terrible nightmare. The tenderness of that recollection was replayed in front of my eyes.

"Hm? What's that sound?"

Kaoru stretched beside him, rubbing her eyes free of the excess sleep. I sat up, listening intently to the soft sound that was drifting down the hallway and calmly sailing into our room. The moon hung in the near center of the sky, and the silver light graced across the room, and on Kaoru's face. When just woken up, she seemed younger, cuter even. We sat in bed trying to determine the identity of the alien noise that had roused us from sleep. I watched as Kaoru stopped in mid yawn.

"It's Tori, she's crying."

Quicker than my battle trained sight could follow, she was up and out of bed, with her hand clutched around the door handle. It's truly amazing, a mother's instinct to protect and comfort her children.

"Kaoru, it's alright."

I rose and just as quickly was at the door. Placing a hand on her shoulder, I said;

"I'll go to her. You go back to bed, you look tired."

"But Kenshin-"

"Kaoru."

She sighed, defeated.

"Alright."

I opened the door quietly, and stood outside for a few minutes, making sure Kaoru got back into bed. When the sound of peaceful breathing reached my ears, I walked down the hall to the room Tori and Kenji shared. The sound of her sobbing was louder now, but it was controlled , almost as I she didn't want to wake her brother. Slowly, I slid open the door, and peeked in.

Tori knelt, still wrapped in the blankets, sobbing hysterically. Her small child's form was bathed in moonlight so that her hair glowed white. I stepped into the room, and over Kenji's sleeping form. I knelt down beside her, and put my hand on her head. She looked up immediately.

"Hey there kiddo. Why are you crying?"

She leapt into my arms. I held her tightly against me, stroking her back as the muffled sobs shook her body. My kimono was getting wet, but I didn't care.

"Daddy, are you gonna leave Momma, Kenji and me?"

For a moment, I was taken aback by the blatant question, but I smothered it. Placing my chin on the soft pelt of my daughter's hair, I inhaled her scent, and asked her;

"Where on Earth did you get an idea like that?"

She didn't look up at me, but her sobbing was starting to diminish.

"I dreamed that you told us that you were tired o9f living here. That…that it had g-gotten boring. That-that you didn't l-love us an-anymore…and you left."

Tori looked up at me, her eyed wide with child's fear. The tears in her eyes made the violet in her irises stand at beautifully in the darkness. It was like twin purple moons had been placed inside her head. I smiled, and kissed her on the forehead.

"It's alright. I'll never leave you. Any of you. This is my home. I'll always stay here with you."

Happiness beamed from her face. Squeezing me tightly, she once more buried her face in my chest.

"I love you Daddy. And don't worry, I'll stay here with you too, always with you."

But she hadn't. I wasn't one of those parents who sat there and thought 'Oh my child will never do that.' because, hey kids always do things that you never expect them to. That's what being a parent is all about. Kaoru and I weren't stupid by any means, we knew what would come, we just dreaded the day. I knocked a low hanging branch of an oak tree out of my way before continuing on, praying that I wouldn't be too late.

* * * * *

"I don't get it."

I glanced at Kurodami. As the four of us had exited the abandoned mansion, Yasuka had explained the plan to us.

" Tori and Kurodami, you two will go east and take out a messenger. I assume he will not be alone. Namako and I will go the site where the meeting is being held, and dispense of the guards quickly so not to raise an alarm. Once you two are through with you task, meet back with Namako and I so we can being our mission."

We were on both standing behind a large maple tree, with our weapons drawn. The road before us was as dark as a demon's soul, and just as empty. Where there should have been a silver beam from the moon arcing down from the sky, there was only blackness. Dark, malevolent clouds covered the sky, the hair on the nape of my neck was standing on end. It was going to rain soon. Beside me, Kurodami shifted his axe to his left shoulder and let out another sigh.

"Don't get what?"

Red gold eyes locked on my own violet orbs. I wasn't about to let him know, but for the fifteen minutes that we had been standing there, I noticed those strange colored eyes had taken quite a few peeks at my breasts. They did it again for the…what was it now? Sixth time? I had lost count after three, (Not that I liked it mind you, but I wasn't about to deal with it now. If I punched him, he would yelp, and I if our target happened to be coming down the road that would give us away. Secrecy. It's quite handy for assassinations. Where was I? Oh yes.) After those leering creep eyes had gotten their fill he glanced furtively back at the empty road.

"Why in the hell we have to take out a damn messenger when frickin' Namako and Yasuka get all the fun of taking out the guards of the Yakuza meeting."

I rolled my eyes. For being skilled enough for Tadashi Tsubeta to enlist him, he obviously didn't think far enough ahead.

"The Yakuza is just as informed as we are. They probably already know about tonight's assassination. This late messenger is either a precaution in case the others were already disposed of…or a distraction."

Kurodami huffed. In the dark, I caught a movement off to my left: his hand reaching out to stroke my butt. The sound of horse hooves struck my ears like the shattering of a struck gong.

"They've arrived. Get ready."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kurodami make an exasperated expression. That messenger had good timing. Kurodami would need both hands to wield that battleaxe of his. The carriage was nearing our hiding spot. Before Kurodami could say anything to me, I rushed out without a sound, and cut the front left wheel from the coach. I watched, hidden once more within the shadows as the coach spilled to the ground, knocking the driver from his seat. Frantic whinnying from the horses rubbed the wrong way against my sensitive ear drums, making me wince. The door flew open, and out tumbled the messenger, a young man, who appeared to be about my age, and a scarred body guard who looked to be in his thirties. They hit the ground with a satisfying thud. Groaning a bit, the messenger rubbed his head, and got shakily to his feet.

"What the hell happened?"

The bodyguard, who was much more attuned to what was going on, was scanning the surrounding area, looking for either me or Kurodami. He unsheathed his sword slowly, as if to strike fear into us. Yeah, like that would work. Across the road, Kurodami looked over at me. I didn't know is he could see or not, but I shook my head, telling him to wait. He caught me and nodded, fading once more in the darkness beyond.

Meanwhile, the bodyguard had become aware of the presence of other people.

"Show yourselves! I know you're there!"

The messenger, who had been tending to the coach driver, looked over at the bodyguard.

"Mister Useki."

Useki snarled.

"Quiet. They're here for you."

His eyes grew to the size of twin planets.

"For…me?"

His hand went into his pocket, and I could see him grab a hold of something. A crackling noise of scrunched up paper caught my attention. The letter! Frightened brown eyes scanned either side of the road, his hand tightened into a fist curling around the letter like a mother cat curling protectively around her young.

"W-what should we do?"

Useki rolled his eyes. I liked him already. The messenger kid was pretty stupid, but the bodyguard…now he knew his stuff. He would be fun to fight. It would be one of the few more tense battles I'd fought.

"Kinta. Go. It's not that far of a run, you might be able to make it to the base. If you're lucky that is."

"A-and you M-Mister Useki?"

Useki grinned. He had a kind of scruffy look to him, and his black hair was tied back into a ponytail. His eyes were alive with the fire of battle.

"I'll take care of the intruders!"

With that Useki swung, chopping off a thick branch from the tree the Kurodami had been behind. As he leapt out from his hiding place, I had the image of a large black panther attacking at wolf. Kurodami swung his axe, aiming to sever Useki's head from his neck. He ducked, but a few of his raven colored hairs split from his head, and floated to the ground. Kinta gasped, and fled. Kurodami swung out again, and shouted;

"Go get 'him Tori! I'll take care of this one!"

Useki, when he heard my name, realized just what the stakes were, and swung out for me, but by that time, I was already running full speed in the woods alongside the road, chasing after my prey. Crashing noises alerted me that my quarry had taken a different course. I grinned, it would be fun to chase him through the woods, and back to the road, around and around in never ending circles. Kinta's harsh labored breathing stuck in my ears like a bur on clothing. He was slowing down, growing tired. Soon he would run out completely. That was no fun. I hopped up in a tree and looked down into the clearing that I had chased Kinta into. He leaned against the tree I was positioned in, breathing heavily. I watched as he brought the letter out of his pocket, and clutched it tightly.

"They'll never get this."

"I'm not so sure."

Black fear swam in his facial features as I landed clean on top of him. He made a sort of choke noise and collapsed. His face was pressed into the dirt, so his words were a bit muffled, but it was still easy to make out what he was saying.

"What do you want?! Just please leave me alone!"

Wuss. Tears were soaking the dirt beneath his face. Gods, why the hell did people like this have to go sniveling and whining? I attached my sword to my hip, grabbed his left arm and wrenched it back. The pained yelp he let out was like music to my ears.

"The letter. Give it to me."

"Why?! Just who are you people?!"

I tightened my grip on his wrist.

"We are of the Tadashi Tsubeta. My job is to ensure that the news of tonight's assassination does not get to your base."

He writhed beneath me, like a worm on hot ground, but that did him no good, I only yanked harder, causing him to scream in agony this time.

"It hurts. P-please…let me g-g-go!"

"Letter."

It was not a request it was a demand. The rough texture of a paper's edge brushed my left right wrist, I looked down, it was loosely clasped in his right hand. I took it from him and read it. Yasuka had been right. In the letter it had the exact details of tonight's mission. Smiling, I stuffed it in my pocket.

"Okay…you have the letter. Now let me go!"

"Can't do that kid."

One handed, I grabbed my sword and stabbed it through his throat. Saliva and blood dripped onto the ground as their owner made alien gargling noises. It slid out effortlessly, almost as if the flesh it had pierced was butter. Kinta's had fell back onto the ground, like a sack of rice, his tongue hung out like a worm from a bird's beak. A puffy, blown up worm. A white glaze was settling over his eyes, dulling them, snuffing out the last ember of life that might have still clung to his body had it not been rapidly cooling.

The metal melody of a weapon caused me to spin around, brandishing my sword. A high pitched squeal of metal on metal brought the song of weaponry up short. My sword clanged off Kurodami's axe. Gripping the hilt of my sword like the neck of an enemy, I gnashed my teeth together, and shouted at him.

"What the hell was that for Kurodami?!"

He grinned, it was a wolfish smile, full of predatory cunning. His eyes gleamed as they took in my form, worshipped it in the near total darkness. How he could make out every detail of my body, I had no idea.

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist a little test. See you're kinda getting' to be big in our organization. 'Course it's not surprising considerin' who your daddy is. I've always wanted to see you in action, but when that little ass fled the scene I was a bit bummed."

He put up his free hand.

"Can ya blame a guy for bein' curious?"

I saw right through the disguise.

"You're a rat. An informant for them aren't you?"

Kurodami sneered and brought up his battleaxe.

"Correct. Now, let's see if you can live long enough to take that information back to Yasuka."

He swung wide, and I leapt, grabbing at a low hanging branch and swinging myself up into the high confines before Kurodami's axe could cut me down. I flipped up and over, resting numbly on a thinner branch, it bobbed under my weight. If I wasn't careful I might crack it. Kurodami looked up and laughed.

"Too hard to get in close enough to do some damage so you climb high into a tree to gain distance. But if you think you're safe,"

He leapt surprisingly high for one carrying such a bulky weapon. We came eye to eye, this time there was no lecherous look, only the mad gleam of a killer. The branch dipped low for a moment as I settled my weight on my feet, but I was quick enough to where I was able to leap clear of the butterfly blade once more. Kurodami landed on a lower thicker branch, while I bounced over to an adjacent tree. He grinned and blew splinters of the left blade's edge.

"Here kitty kitty. C'mon, I know you wanna catch the pretty butterfly don't ya? Keep dodging me, and you'll tire yourself Tori girl."

Bull. Like whip coils, I tensed my legs for another spring. Kurodami caught this, and brought up his battle axe. Just by looking at it, I could already tell he planned to swing wide, to my right. Thoughts flowed across his face like the reflections of windswept clouds on a still lake. He thought I would aim for his heart, try to take him in one blow. Moron. What ever he had heard, he'd heard it wrong. In a normal mission, yes I would try to take my enemy quickly, but when the battle had been heightened to this kind of perfection, I preferred to deliver a slow and painful death. With lots and lots of blood.

I sprang and he swung. Just as I knew he would he swung low, and completely missed me. I, on the other hand, put in a pretty good nick. Tearing skin and flesh poured into my ears like the finest wines down a parched throat. I gratefully accepted the noise like a hard earned trophy. Dark rich blood spurted from the wound, gushing out in a torrent of red. The salty tang hit the air, and I licked my lips. Kurodami tried once more unsuccessfully to land a blow, but thanks to the sudden pain was a little disoriented, and crash landed out of the tree. My landing was more graceful. Placing a hand on his neck as he got up, Kurodami winced as the rough fabric of the glove came into contact with the screaming flesh beneath the blood, and boy there was a lot of that!

"You little whore! I'll kill-"

The axe fell from steadily weakening hands straight into the ground. Surprise made the gold in Kurodami's eyes flash as he fell the ground, useless and soon to be lifeless. Once more, he laid a hand on his wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

"Wha…what the hell…"

I smiled. Looks like once again, I was the victor.

"I just slice open a one of the major veins in your neck. I was nice and didn't cut your jugular, and so in that I allowed you a few more precious moments of life. So you're pretty much going to lie there dying. Tell me something Kurodami,"

Still holding my sword in ready mode, I squatted down in front of him.

"What's it like? To literally feel the life flowing from your body, to feel your veins emptying themselves of the vital fluid that you so desperately need to survive. Between you and me, I can't imagine a greater hell. Just kind of makes you want to end life right now huh?"

He clenched his teeth together, I could still see a few undying sparks of life flair behind his eyes.

"Quit talking of ending my life, and think about yours! You already speak as if Tadashi Tsubeta is your life! You already kill in their name! I know you have a family Tori! A family who would want nothing more than to see you turn your back on all of this and go back to living the life you live with them! Forget about taking my life, and go redeem yours, go and-"

He was cut short by the cruel end of my sword. It quivered like an arrow, sticking straight up out of his skull. As I pulled it out, it made a sucking noise as the still warm flesh clung to the cold steel.

"Just shut up."

The wind moaned through the trees, carrying the scent of the imminent rain storm. Kurodami had been an informant for the Yakuza, which meant he had told them about tonight's assassination. I had to get back to their base and warn Yasuka and Namako…if it wasn't too late.

Done and done! Sometime's I amaze myself. No truly, I do. Anyways, leave a review please. Cookies, not razorblades!