Chapter 7-

It was pain that eventually awoke Misao. A stinging, fiery pain that screamed at her as she as opened her eyes. Bright morning light poured through the window above her, casting the room in a golden glow, the reality of where she was making her stomach clench into knots. She sat up slowly and looked down at the burn on her leg, which had woken her with the pain shooting through it. The skin had bubbled into ugly, fluid fill blisters. She examined it carefully, not wanting to cry, though desperately feeling the urge to.

Come on, Misao! You're a kunoichi! Be tough!

Nevertheless, tears began stinging her eyes as she looked around her small, circular prison. Large stones made up the wall and floor. The lone window above her had bars on it and she grasped them to haul herself up, carefully maneuvering her injured leg. The window was level with the long green grass on the lawn outside. She looked for a gate, but there were only trees.

"Not much of a view, I'm afraid."

Misao spun around and abruptly fell to her knees. She gasped when she saw the smiling face of the young man who had been there last night. He sat outside the rusty metal gate, staring at her strangely, a look of amusement never leaving his thin face.

"Have you been here the whole time?" she demanded in a thick voice, realizing her throat felt terribly sore. She also felt uncomfortable with the idea that he had been watching her all night.

"Would you like some water?" he asked, not answering her question as he picked up a clay jug beside him.

Much as she would have liked to have refused, her mouth felt painfully dry and a sour taste clung to her tongue. She nodded begrudgingly and slowly stood, her legs feeling uncertain beneath her. She limped towards the gate, avoiding the puddle of vomit that still lay splattered across the floor, and leaned against the gate's rusty hinges as he passed her a small clay cup filled with water through the bars.

She gulped the water down quickly, feeling his eyes on her as she did. She glared at him as she shoved the cup back into his hand. He merely smiled back.

"Has she awoken, Soujirou?" asked a familiar low voice.

A woman in a dark hood came up behind him. But the hood was pushed back so that Misao could see the pale face of her kidnapper, who regarded her with a look of bitter-filled disdain in her pale green eyes, so scrutinizing that Misao felt suddenly self-conscious and vulnerable.

"What's going on?" she demanded, summoning up her courage as her heart began to beat inside of her chest. "Where am I?"

"Where you are is of no consequence," the woman said severely, her gaze becoming narrower. "And as to why you are here, that is none of your concern." She turned to Soujirou and pulled him aside so that their backs were facing Misao. Straining her ear, Misao tried to make out the whispered words.

"I'm going to make rounds through the mansion. He knows it better than we do and he'll use secret passageways, so stay alert."

He nodded and fingered the wakizashi strapped to his hip. It had not been there the night before.

"If he comes, then…" Misao could hear the smile in the woman's voice, hushed as it was. "you'll have a chance to settle a score, won't you?"

Soujirou said nothing as he turned back towards the gate, the smile suddenly gone from his face. He stared at the floor grimly, his hand still wrapped around the hilt of the wakizashi, and leaned heavily against the wall of the hallway. Misao heard the woman walk down the corridor, her soft boots making hardly any noise on the stones. There was a loud clang of a metal door shutting, the sound echoing down through the hall.

Misao tried to hide the hope that she knew was shining in her eyes as she turned towards the barred window. That woman must have been talking about Aoshi. Who else could it be? She felt her heart do a leap as she imagined him with brandished kodachi, hacking through any resistance he might meet up with, his eyes holding that icy determined glare, coming to rescue her.

She smiled resolutely, any hints of tears vanishing, as she gripped the metal bars of the window. Unless I get out of here first!

x-x-x

Kenshin fought to open his eyes. He struggled to sit up, but quickly gasped when a throbbing pain seemed to crush his chest. With sweaty hands, he gripped the sheet that covered him as it slowly faded to a dull ache, taking deep gulps of the warm humid air that surrounded him.

"Kenshin?"

He tried to blink the heaviness from his eyes and saw Kaoru's concerned face leaning over him. He smiled shakily. "Hello, Kaoru-dono."

Immediately, she scowled and slapped a cold compress onto his forehead. "There's nothing to grin about! We've all been worried to the point of illness about you! None of us even know where you were, and then when Aoshi came and said that you were at Megumi-san's clinic, unconscious-"

"Aoshi?" His sharp tone seemed to startle her out of her angry spiel. "Where is he?"

Kaoru shook her head. "Sanosuke said that he came and told him that you were at the clinic. Then he left without saying where he was going or what had happened." She scowled again, pressing the compress harder against his forehead than necessary and he winced. "I'm getting tired of all this mysterious riddle-speaking around here. I want to know what's going on, and I want to know now!" She jerked the cloth from his face and splashed it into the bowl of water beside her. "And you had better tell me, because I am really starting to lose my patience." She held up the dripping fabric threateningly above his forehead.

She looked surprised as he slowly reached up and took her hand, lowering it gently onto the floor. "This one is sorry," he said softly. "I never meant to hide anything from you, that I didn't. This one only wants to see you safe."

Looking shamefaced at his quiet words, she placed the cloth in the bowl, not meeting his gaze.

At that moment, Sano burst into the room. "Hey, missy! You had better tell that jerk to wake up, or I'm going to-" He stopped when he saw Kenshin smiling wanly up at him. "Feh. This is no time to grin like that! I want to know what's going on, and I want to know now!" He knelt down and lowered his fist under Kenshin's nose.

"Kenshin's awake?" Yahiko ran into the room, his face still sweaty from his bokken practice. "About time."

"Oro?" he murmured as he looked at all three faces staring down at him intensely, obviously waiting for an explanation. He sighed as he slowly sat up, grimacing while pain again shot through the right side of his chest. He could already feel the wound throbbing in protest as he shifted himself up and leaned forward to steady himself. Koaru's hand hovered over his shoulder, as if she were shy to touch him.

Again, he let out his breath and looked at each of their expectant faces. Then, carefully, he began to stand, his knees tottering underneath him.

"Hey!" said Yahiko, stepping in front of him so that his nose was brushing against his chest. "Where do you think you're going?"

Kenshin grunted and straightened, fixing his gi so that it covered his bare chest. "Is this one not allowed to get a cup of water?" he asked meekly.

Sano snorted. "Kaoru, go get him some water."

"Yahiko, go get him some water."

"Kenshin, get the water yourself," Yahiko snapped as he whirled on Kaoru, giving her an angry look. "I am getting so tired of you ordering me around! Are you so lazy that you will do nothing for yourself?"

"This one will get the water," Kenshin said, taking shaky steps towards the door. But no one seemed to be listening.

"Ordering you around? I'm your teacher! That's what I'm supposed to do," said Kaoru, her hands on her hips. "Don't even get me started. I've been so stressed out since last night-"

"Can't you guys just shut up for a moment?" muttered Sano irritably. "I had a really late night."

"And you!" Kaoru pointed accusingly at him. "You can't just tell me what to do! This is my dojo, and don't you forget it!"

At this moment, Kenshin was relieved to hear their voices yelling at each other as he slid the door closed. He needed a moment to gather his scattered thoughts. He would have to tell the other what had happened at the mansion, he knew. But what to tell?

He concentrated as he stared down at the cup in his hand, standing in the empty kitchen. The last thing he could recall was the arrow striking him, then the cold marble against his face. He absently rubbed his aching shoulder.

That woman. Kenshin had never seen Aoshi so shaken, so horrified. He had whispered her name like it was a long forgotten curse. Takara.

Where was Aoshi now? Had he gone to look for Misao-dono alone? Kenshin massaged his forehead with a trembling hand, still feeling the heavy effects of the poison. He had to find Aoshi. Something was gnawing at Kenshin. Something that he couldn't name. But he knew that something was wrong. Something terrible was about to happen.

He felt his heart sink at the prospect of yet another danger his presence may have lured his friends into. He knew that when he told them of the situation, they were going to want to jump right in with him, and what could he really say to stop them? Sanosuke wasn't so much of a concern. He could fend for himself, Kenshin knew that. But what of Yahiko? And especially Kaoru-dono. He couldn't bear the thought of their lives being at stake yet again, after they had already gone through so much.

At that moment, voices drifted towards him and the sound of feet. He turned and gave them his best cheerful smile as the door slid open, revealing the still-fuming threesome.

"Want some water?" he asked hopefully, holding up the pitcher.

Kaoru said nothing as she took the pitcher from his hand and firmly led him out of the kitchen, pulling him by his good arm in a tight grasp. Sano and Yahiko flanked either side of him as they guided him to the sitting room, like guards leading a prisoner.

Pressing her hand against his shoulder, she made him sit down on a cushion and she took one across from him. Yahiko didn't sit, but stood behind Kaoru, his arms crossed over his chest. Sano sat on the floor and leaned back against the wall, folding his hands behind his head, as if to get comfortable.

All three were glaring at him. This isn't going to be easy, that it won't.

"Nice try, escaping into the kitchen like that," said Yahiko, breaking the silence. "But you aren't going anywhere now. Not until you tell us the whole story."

x-x-x

Aoshi was like a shadow. He didn't move as he crouched in the shade of the overgrown trees that offered covering in the yellow sunlight of morning, allowing him a view of the mansion grounds. His eyes scanned the front of the building, mapping its interior in his mind, remembering every secret passageway he and Han'ya had discovered. At the thought of Han'ya, Aoshi felt a cold tugging at his thoughts, trying to occupy it with memories of the other three Oniwabbanshuu. But he quickly quelled them. He needed only to think of Misao.

But, oh how many times he had sat in this same spot with Beshimi, a quiet place to escape to, away from Kanryu's shifting eyes and maniacal giggling. Beshimi never spoke to him aloud when he was with the others, but when he and Aoshi would sit here on quiet nights, it was here where he would confess everything to his okashira. His troubles, his hopes, his agonies…all whispered in the confines of this protected refuge in the trees. Aoshi had always been willing to listen. He too understood what it meant to live in isolation, the need for someone to entrust your secrets to. He remembered those dark evenings on the battlements of Edo-

He abruptly shifted his feet and slipped through the foliage, closer towards the mansion, considering his best course. Where would have she have Misao hidden? He thought of the observatory, towering high above his head, where Megumi had been placed when she had attempted to murder Kanryu. He looked upwards and peered at the glass for any signs of movement, but he knew it was useless. He had no choice but to go inside.