The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 13
It did not take long, which she was glad of, because Kenshin was leaving again the same night. "The children are in danger. They must be brought here as quickly as possible - it might already be too late."
Aya, Suzumi, Kensuke. Shishio would be after them. Feeling unaccountably anxious about them, Kaoru insisted on going with Kenshin to the girls' house, even though the thought of leaving the safety of the castle made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Yutarô accompanied them and Mitsuko drove, while Sanosuke, Yahiko, and some others headed off separately for the Himura mansion.
The conversation on the drive felt awkward. Mitsuko seemed nervously bubbly and kept snapping into heated arguments with Yutarô and impatient ones with Kenshin. The one-armed warrior, finally getting fed up, opened the door and exited the car at one point (while it was still going full speed), calling back that he would meet them there. Kenshin was left alone to deal with Mitsuko's childish whining and Kaoru's prickly insults. Upset as she was, Kaoru was not surprised that Kenshin was looking strained again.
Yutarô was already in a fight when they reached the house, finishing off the last of his opponents as Mitsuko pulled up to the curb.
"I'm going to see if there are others," Kenshin said, getting swiftly out of the car. "Mitsuko-dono, please check on Keiko-dono and the children; Kaoru-dono, please stay in the car."
Kaoru watched, barely able to see a thing as the men disappeared into the shadows and the fey woman vanished into the house. For a while, nothing happened. Then Kenshin and Yutarô appeared again, consulted briefly, and parted once more. Kenshin opened the front door and went inside as Yutarô came over to the car. Kaoru rolled the window down. "What's happening?"
"Nothing. Kenshin's gone to get them."
"Is there anyone else around?"
"No, I got 'em all, though there's probably going to be more coming." Yutarô sighed. "Man, they're gonna be tougher than these clowns, too. We'd better be out of here by- Hey! What are you doing?!"
Ignoring him, Kaoru tossed the car door shut again and marched towards the house.
Yutarô was suddenly in front of her, his cat-like eyes narrowed. "Kenshin said to stay in the car."
"You always do everything Kenshin-sama tells you to do?" She felt tense, hoping that Yutarô wouldn't try to stop her by force.
"Heck no! But-"
"Good, because I don't, either." Kaoru swerved around him and marched on.
"Argh! Stupid woman..."
Kaoru bristled, but did not bother to turn around or respond. To her relief, Yutarô did not try to follow her farther.
The kitchen lights were on. Mitsuko was perched on the counter, eating some kind of leftovers out of a plastic container. "The girls are packing," she told Kaoru. Then she grinned. "Ken-chan told you to stay in the car."
"Well, I didn't."
"He won't like that," Mitsuko said cheerfully. She held out the container of food. "Want some?"
"No, thanks." Kaoru moved to the hallway, which was dark, but light from the two open bedroom doors were spilling thick yellow bars across the shadowy aisle.
"Don't take your clothes, Neechan, the fairies can glamour us anything we want!"
"Do you know how much I paid for these jeans? I am NOT leaving them behind! And besides, what about you and your stupid toys?"
"I'm not abandoning Kuma-chan and the others to the bad guys!"
"Aya-dono...Suzumi-dono..."
Kaoru peered into one doorway, where Suzumi was stuffing a plush bear and a few fashion dolls into an overnight bag; then into the other doorway, where Aya was folding clothes into a suitcase, as Kenshin hovered nearby looking strained.
"Need some help?" Kaoru said dryly.
Everyone gasped and looked at her, then Kenshin slumped reproachfully and the girls burst into giggles.
"Kaoru-chan! You came, too!"
"Aya-chan. Suzumi-chan," Kaoru said severely. "A very scary person wants to put you in a dangerous position. You don't have time for your clothes and dolls. Don't you understand how important this is?"
The girls paused uneasily.
"I was captured," Kaoru said. "It's not something I want to see happen to you two. Let's go."
"All right," Aya said, looking subdued. Suzumi ran over to hug Kaoru and apologize.
"This one is going to go wake your mother," Kenshin said, heading back into the hallway. "Please be ready to leave soon."
"Okay, Ken-jiichan!" Spirits still as high as ever, apparently. Did none of the other females involved in this mess take anything seriously?
Kaoru came out and watched as Kenshin turned on the hallway light, opened the third bedroom door, and hesitantly went inside. The figure in the bed stirred restlessly and pulled an arm over her head to shield against the light.
"Keiko-dono." Kenshin put a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.
"Make her alarm go off!" one of the girls yelled from behind.
Kenshin glanced up, shook his head a little, then turned his attention back to the sleeping woman. "Keiko-dono, please wake up." He smoothed her hair away from her face, then quickly backed away when her eyes flickered open.
"Mm...what...?" Keiko suddenly shot upright. "You!" she gasped, clutching the blanket up to her chest even though her nightwear was perfectly decent.
Kenshin kept backing up until he was almost level with Kaoru in the doorway. "Keiko-dono, you must get up at once and prepare to leave with us. You and the girls are in danger."
"You're Battousai." Then Keiko's expression seemed to crumple in betrayal. For the first time, Kaoru realized that she might be looking terrible because she had been crying earlier, not because she had just been awakened. "All this time, you were hiding it, lying to me-"
"Please - this one will explain later, but now we-"
Keiko had snatched at the phone on her bedside table, but now threw it down in horror. "You cut the phone line!"
"It was like that when we came, that it was," Kenshin explained. "Do you see now why we need to leave immediately?"
One of the girls shoved into the doorway with them and flicked on the light. "Mom, get up. The bad guys are coming and we have to leave!"
Kaoru put a hand on Kenshin's shoulder. "Go look for any papers or important things they might need," she found herself saying. "I'll...handle this."
Kenshin stared at her, looking first surprised and then grateful. He nodded. "This one will leave it to you." He moved away purposefully.
Kaoru looked back at Keiko, who was staring at her. "A...Arai-san?"
"Suoh-san," Kaoru said, coming into the room. Suzumi had dashed off again, and Kaoru could hear Aya lugging something down the hall, calling for Kenshin. "I guess you heard the news about Battousai."
"He-!"
Kaoru didn't let her get started. "I don't really know what's going on, either, but I do know that Kenshin is not the enemy here. He wants to help us, and we - we should...trust him. I..." Kaoru swallowed and said softly, still holding Keiko's eyes, "I really believe that."
"He's Battousai," Keiko repeated blankly, "the man is Battousai..."
Kaoru suddenly moved across the room so she could look right into Keiko's face. "Please listen to me. I was captured earlier, by the men who want both me and your daughters dead." Kaoru had no idea what Shishio really wanted, but she needed the sense of danger to sink in quickly for Keiko. "We're in trouble, all of us. They had already come for you, they cut your phone lines; it was Kenshin's friend who stopped them before they could get in to hurt you and the girls. Please believe me, the castle - Himura Castle - is the only place where you and the girls can be safe right now. Please come with us. We need to hurry."
Keiko stared at her and swallowed. Kaoru could see in her face that she believed her, and also that she did not want to believe, that she was more confused and frightened than even Kaoru had felt. "I don't understand."
"You don't need to right now. Just come." Kaoru glanced back to the hallway, which was getting noisy with the sounds of Mitsuko and the girls ravaging the house for important things to bring. "I'm pretty sure that the girls will come with us whether you like it or not, and we don't want to leave you behind."
Keiko's mouth tightened. "You're kidnapping us."
"We're going to Himura Castle. We'll try to explain everything there." Kaoru took her hands. "Please."
They stared at each other for a very long moment. Then Keiko said softly, echoing the very thoughts in Kaoru's heart, "Who...are you? How do I know you?"
Kaoru had a sudden, crazy urge, which she resisted, to put her arms around the woman and burst into tears. It confused her, feeling such powerful love for a complete stranger. "Come on." Trying to smile, she helped Keiko out of bed and then looked around. "Is your wallet here? Any important papers? You don't have to change clothes, but you should probably get a jacket or something. It's getting a little cold."
After that, they were out sooner than Kaoru expected. Keiko, though still looking confused and frightened and as if she did not trust Kenshin or Kaoru at all, nevertheless got her act together and had what she needed packed up before the girls were even finished coming up with a list of important things for Kenshin to look for.
"Girls," Keiko snapped, "get outside, I want you in the car by the time I close the front door. Ken-" She hesitated only a moment, "Kenshin-san, the top right-hand drawer of that desk has papers that I haven't gotten copied yet. I don't think there's anything else- How long are we going to be gone?"
"This one has no idea," he admitted. "It is also unknown whether your house and belongings will be destroyed or will remain undisturbed, though we can certainly meet all your immediate needs at the castle."
Keiko hesitated only a couple of seconds to finger a cabinet full of fine china and a hand-knitted blanket thrown artfully over the sofa. Then she closed her eyes, opened them again, and marched out of the house without looking back, yelling at the girls as she did so ("I told you to be in the car!" "But Mom, Yuta-kun's telling us we have to take HIS car!" "Wait, I forgot my...!").
Mitsuko was already long gone; Kaoru could hear the engine running outside. Kenshin was by the front door, reaching out to her as if to urge her to hurry. Kaoru quickly snatched up the knitted blanket and rushed to join him.
The girls' good-natured arguing with Mitsuko over which radio station to listen to seemed a bit incongruous under the circumstances. However, it eventually occurred to Kaoru that she would rather listen to cheerful bickering over music than have to endure a tense, frightened silence.
"Girls," Keiko finally snapped, but at that moment, the music was interrupted by a burst of static.
"Kenshin," Sagara's voice said urgently, "where are you?"
"On Radiant Garden approaching Hollow Bastion, why?" Kenshin said at once, leaning toward the front seat. The girls whispered to each other anxiously, Ayame giving her sister a soft but impatient slap.
"We almost didn't get here in time, the place is swarming with goons."
"We'll be right there, Sano."
"The girls-?"
"Yes, but-"
"Drop 'em off at the castle first!"
"But Kensuke's family-"
"We can hold 'em off long enough to-"
"I'm already altering the route," Mitsuko put in cheerfully.
o.o.o.o.o
The gates to the estate opened at once, without any authorization, so that Mitsuko did not even have to slow down as she drove through. Kaoru was a little disoriented until she realized that there was not a single light on the grounds - the entire mansion was dark, including the lamps lining the long drive. Mitsuko, snapping the car's high-beam lights on, cursed as she swerved to avoid a couple of fighting men who were suddenly illuminated just in front of them.
Kenshin immediately launched himself out of the car. The girls were tittering nervously, and Keiko reached back to grip Kaoru's hand without either of them thinking twice about it.
Then Mitsuko just drove away, leaving Kenshin fighting in the dark. "Hey!" Kaoru shouted. "You're just leaving him?!"
"Ken-chan can handle himself fine," Mitsuko said, a little impatiently. "It's the other Ken-chan we've got to worry about - he's got a hotter head, and a harpy for a mother." She glanced back slyly. "I think we're going to need you, Kaoru-chan."
When one of the fey women opened a small side door, she was holding a candle. The inside of the house was as pitch-black as the outside. "We were about to wake little Ken-chan," she murmured to Mitsuko as everyone filed inside. "Is big Ken-chan here?"
"Yes, he's cleaning up outside," Mitsuko said airily. "What about Natsue?"
"I wanted to drug her," Mara sniffed, "but big Ken-chan wouldn't like it." She grinned. "The little one wouldn't mind, I'm sure." As soon as they closed the door, she glanced around, then made a motion with her fingers so that the candle suddenly seemed to burst with light, illuminating the area to about half a meter all around them. Kaoru was sure it was magic, but determinedly did not ask.
The group of women met up with Sanosuke just outside Kensuke's bedroom door. He nodded in acknowledgment and then pushed his way in, with the others in his wake.
Mara's light glimmered on bare flesh, revealing a figure curled up on the bed. Kensuke stirred, then was up in an instant, seizing the dark bedside lamp and swinging it at Sanosuke's head.
"Yow! Watch it, kid!" Sanosuke caught Kensuke by the wrist and swung him securely into his arms so that he could detach the lamp from the boy's grip without either of them getting hurt.
"Sano?" Kensuke's voice queried groggily.
"Yeah. We gotta make tracks."
"Cool. Gimme a minute to wake up." Kensuke tottered unsteadily to the floor and sat there rubbing at his face. Kaoru was rather impressed that he had instinctively moved to defend himself before even being fully awake.
She went to crouch down next to him. "Kensuke-kun?"
"What?"
"Um..." She was not sure what to say. She had just wanted to talk to him, to make sure he was all right, to keep him safe. She resisted the urge to put her arms around him, since, for one thing, he was wearing nothing except a pair of boxers. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Kensuke looked around, blinking, seeing that Sanosuke had gone to look anxiously out the window, Mara was picking up his sword, and Mitsuko and the Suoh girls were inspecting his music CDs as Keiko looked on with an air of disbelief. "Is Kenshin here?"
"Yes." Everyone turned to find Kenshin stepping into the room, a bit difficult to see in the dim light. "Kensuke, it's time. We're going to the castle."
"Awesome," the boy responded matter-of-factly. He stood up just in time to catch a set of clothes when Mara threw them at him. "So you're kidnapping me?"
"If you like," Kenshin said, smiling a little as he made a signal to Sanosuke and then turned to the girls. "Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono, we must move quickly."
Kensuke did not take nearly as long to get ready as the girls had. He was dressed in under a minute, took hold of his sword, spared only one brief glance at his CDs and video games, then made for the door. Kaoru was quickest to follow him, so they were the two who ran into Kensuke's father in the hall.
"Kensuke?"
"Dad?"
They stood staring at each other for a moment. Then Mr. Himura, in his pajamas with tousled hair, watched silently as the others all filed out of Kensuke's bedroom and stood there a bit awkwardly.
"Takashi," Kenshin finally said with a nod.
"Mr. O'Neill?" Mr. Himura said uncertainly.
"Kenshin is kidnapping me," Kensuke announced, grinning a little.
Kaoru rolled her eyes, but Mr. Himura said nothing for a moment. He was looking at Mara, and at the fey light that streamed from her hands. "...I suppose this has something to do with the power going out."
"Yes," Kenshin said quietly. "Takashi. Please wake Natsue-dono and come with us. All three of you are in danger, and we must hurry."
Mr. Himura stepped forward until he was right in front of Kenshin, looking down at him intently. Kaoru suddenly realized that the cross-shaped birthmark was clear on Kenshin's face.
"Your name isn't really 'O'Neill,' is it," Mr. Himura whispered.
"It is not."
Mr. Himura drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Can you...help Kensuke?" he asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the boy said indignantly.
Kenshin smiled and held out his hand. "All three of you, Takashi. You belong with us."
Mr. Himura smiled back. Then he began raising his hand to clasp Kenshin's, but at that moment, a woman's irritated, slightly frightened voice came wafting down the hall. "Takashi-san?"
Mara rolled her eyes. "Here we go..."
Natsue came into view, clutching a silky white robe around herself. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene. "What - what is the meaning of this?!" she sputtered.
"Kenshin's kidnapping-" Kensuke started to say, but broke off when Sanosuke elbowed him in warning.
Natsue's mouth dropped open. "Battousai!"
"Natsue-san," her husband began, but she had no intention of listening to him.
"Mara," she snapped, "phone the police at once."
"I'm afraid I can't, ma'am," Mara said snidely. "The power's out."
"What?!" Natsue looked wildly around at the darkness, broken only by Mara's circle of fey light. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"Natsue-dono, please, we have no time, that we do not. You must come to the castle with us-"
"How dare you," Natsue spat. She was clutching her robe tightly as if for protection, her hair was mussed from sleep, her makeup gone, completely unarmed; yet there was something terrifyingly queen-like about her, and Kaoru found herself nearly breathless from a strange fear. "How dare you show your face in this house! You, worming your way into our circle, when you're nothing more than a criminal-"
"Ken-chan's not a criminal!" Mitsuko shouted.
"He would make a far better master than you ever did!" Mara growled, her hands shaking.
"Mitsuko-dono, Mara-dono-"
"Lay off, Mom!" Kensuke was exclaiming, equally angry. "I'd rather be with Kenshin, I'd rather be with anyone, than here with you! You can't stop me this time! I'm leaving, I'm never coming back here again-!"
Kaoru found herself taking the boy's hand, tugging at him until he looked angrily into her face.
"What?" he demanded.
"Don't talk like that to your mother," Kaoru said, not sure where the words were coming from, but realizing that she meant them. "She's worried about you. She...she loves you, Kensuke." By the time she realized that she had forgotten to add an honorific, it was too late. Natsue was raging, Takashi was trying to calm her, and Sanosuke was ushering Kensuke and the Suohs away as Kenshin tried to get the fae to leave as well.
"Natsue-dono," Kenshin called over his shoulder, even as he was blocking Mitsuko and Mara's way, "For your own safety and that of your family, this one strongly urges you to come with us."
Kensuke whirled. "What? Don't let her come, Ken-jii! She'll ruin everything!"
"Kensuke!" his mother shouted. "Come back here at once! If you go with that man, I will-! I will-!"
"Ken-chan," Mara said urgently, "I don't want her to come. Please, Ken-chan. She's a descendant of Titania!"
There was a moment of near silence, broken only by Natsue's struggles to get past her husband's restraining arm. Then Kenshin said quietly, "As is this one, Mara-dono. We cannot help what we are." He looked at Kensuke, unsmiling, and the boy quailed at the sight of his expression. "Kensuke. She is your mother. Does her well-being mean that little to you?"
"...No," Kensuke said in a small voice.
Kenshin nodded, then glanced back at the Himuras. "Natsue-dono, will you join us?"
"I'll kill you!" she screamed, her self-composure gone. "If you take my son away, I will kill you!"
Takashi raised a hand. "Go," he said urgently. "I will look after her."
As they all hurried back through the dark halls, Kaoru moved close to Kenshin and asked nervously, "Who is Titania?"
"The Faerie Queen," he answered tightly. Then, a moment later, "This one's grandmother."
"Your grandmother is a fairy queen?"
Kenshin took her hand, and her skin tingled pleasantly from the contact. "It is a dubious honor, Kaoru-dono. Please, hurry."
Kaoru swallowed and allowed him to pull her along. "Kenshin...have I ever met her?"
"You have," he said shortly. "And if this one has anything to say about it, you never will again, that you will not."
Which seemed to confirm the ominous feeling in Kaoru's heart at the sound of Titania's name.
The inside of the car was louder than ever as they drove home, and Kaoru was a little amazed at how the three boisterous teenagers could make their perilous midnight escape sound like a mundane road trip.
"MOM! He changed the station, make him change it back!"
"Your music sucks!"
"Kensuke, don't speak like that to-"
"Ken-jiichan, make him change it back!"
"Stop whining to him like you always do!"
"As if you don't, loser!"
"Who're you calling a loser, you boyfriendless h-"
"Hey, what's being single got to do with anything?!"
"MOM, DID YOU HEAR WHAT HE ALMOST CALLED ME?!"
"Emotional women..."
"Don't act so high and mighty, Mr. Loses-His-Cool-Every-Time-Someone-Calls-Him-Short!"
And so on. At one point, Keiko switched off the radio and snapped at her daughters that if they did not shut up, she was going to ground them for a week; and Kenshin made it sternly clear to Kensuke that he was already in quite enough trouble and would be wise to stop disrespecting the young ladies at once. By the time they reached the castle again, the car was filled with sulky silence.
This quickly wore off once they got inside. The teenagers bounced around greeting people and exclaiming fondly over the castle furnishings. Ten minutes later, the girls had crashed on a heap of cushions, and Kensuke had gotten into a lively argument with Saitô. Kaoru did not notice this, since she herself had gone, yawning, immediately up to bed, and fell asleep as soon as she lay down.
Takashi and Natsue arrived at the castle some time later. Kaoru knew this because she was eventually awakened by the sound of Natsue shouting at her son. From the sound of it, he had dyed his hair brick red.
Wincing, Kaoru crawled out of bed. She spared a moment to look unhappily in the mirror at the dark shadows under her eyes, then wrapped a robe around herself and ventured out into the hallway. Kensuke was hunched sulkily nearby, silent as his mother went off on him.
*permanently incomplete*
Author's Notes: ...Wow. Apparently I made a huge mistake in chapter 12. Whatever; I don't care anymore. -.-
In case you couldn't tell, I gave up on this fic because it started sounding so forced, like I was just listing items on an outline, rather than actually writing. This story's creative flow has completely dried up, and its muse is dead as a doornail.
There's still one extra scene I wrote out of order, plus the (VERY SHORT) epilogue, and then an omake I wrote for kokoronagomu. Once I've posted that omake, you can take me off your alert lists, since I don't think I have any KK stories left to post except some stuff related to The Lost Hatchling (therefore Kenji-centric), a fic that doesn't really have any romance in it, and one I'm not going to bother to explain except that it's also KT-friendly, because KT for the freaking win.
God, I'm still so angry and bitter...re-writing this author's note over and over and over again, I hate this fandom and the KK pairing so freaking much... It occurred to me that what got me in trouble was the fact that my first fics were KK ones, and therefore attracted KK readers. The readers turned on me when I started writing stuff that wasn't KK. If I'd started out writing platonic fluff and crack pairings, I would have attracted readers who like that stuff instead, and there wouldn't have been a problem. With Kingdom Hearts, I started out with platonic stuff, and now most of my readers are people who enjoy platonic fluff, which is what I truly adore writing, so there's never been a problem.
So. Lesson for you newbies - start out writing what you love best, BEST. And if/when you change and develop as an artist, expect backlash, because I'm not the only person it's happened to. People, in general, are stupid, and an example of this is that they apparently can't just stop following you and start searching for others who can give them what they want. Nope, they seem to feel obligated to bully you about why you changed and why they think your new ideas suck and why they want you to keep working on the old stuff you don't care about anymore. Then more people come along and get really judgmental when they actually have no freaking idea what they're talking about. So just be prepared for that, because maybe then you'll be able to weather it better than me and the others whom this has happened to. *salutes*
I know that a handful of you have been supportive, which I do appreciate. Though I think the fantastic (and long-suffering XD) Mr. Layman is, like, the only person in the world who actually enjoys my non-KK RK stuff. *sweatdrop* Which is fine, I don't have a problem with you guys disliking my non-KK stuff if you're polite about it, I just wish that I hadn't wasted my and your time with KK in the first place, so there wouldn't have been all this drama. I'm really sorry that I was never able to finish Immortality properly; I did the best I could. kokoro, I love youuuu, and I'm so sorry about everything. ;; Katato, thank you for your sweet reviews, I appreciate that you didn't merely read my author's notes, but also seemed to take them to heart (in a positive, sensitive way). ^^ Tree of Ashes and skenshingumi, I thought you'd moved on, so I was quite pleasantly surprised to hear from you guys again recently. :) Ned, I'm sorry we fell out of touch; you seem like a cool person. You, too, Syra. ^^ You guys' messages are still in my inbox...somewhere, among those 600 e-mails...someday I will find them and reply to them. ;;