Once again, I do not own Kenshin or Bridal Mask. Enjoy :) This chapter is Rated R for violence. Be warned that there is a scene that might be considered a little disturbing... I'm not sure if I should change the rating to M or not because just some parts can be graphic.
Chapter 5: The Heart of Battousai
Sitting in his office at the Kyeong Seong Reserve Bank, President Saizuchi looks over some legal documents. Head cold from his lack of hair, and looking more like a cat with whiskers than a man, he picks up the phone for the Chong Ro police station.
"Superintendent Shishio speaking," the man on the other end states.
"The imperial emperor will announce within the hour what we discussed earlier, but don't worry. I set aside two crates with your deposits to be delivered tonight."
Nodding, "right, I understand." Shishio hangs up the phone as the door to his office opens, revealing a striking woman in a white pant suit, and matching white plum fixed in her long hair.
"We're sorry superintendent." Dysuke and another officer rush in after the woman, "she wouldn't listen." Holding up a hand to silence the two underlings, Shishio bows low to the newcomer, gaining shocked looks from the policemen.
After dismissing the two men, Shishio turns to the lady in white, "My apologies Ms. Yokishiro. We are glad you could come on such short notice." The superintendent hands a manilla envelope to the beauty, "here are the battousai case files you requested. Lieutenant Himura has been assigned the case, but my son Hoji will be taking over."
"Thank you," grasping the files, "my father will be pleased." With that, Tomoe exits the station to the awaiting black car while Enishi holds the door open patiently. "Take me to the Asuka hotel, we have some matters to discuss." Himura... so, you are working on the battousai case as well...
The Japanese International Hospital...
Pacing Kaoru's room, Kenshin glances at the sleeping woman, how could I shoot you, Kao-dono? Her breathing finally even with an IV extending from her wrist, wake up soon, I need to know where you have been all this time... How have you been living? He pauses in thought, how did you become involved with battousai?
With her vision stained in crimson, Kaoru can feel a great heaviness on her chest. Viewing her outstretched arm, her precious dagger comes into focus, dripping an unfamiliar liquid. Breathing in shallow gasps, the weight of the man on top of her nearly unbearable for her small frame as she struggles to move.
"Young master," she cries while attempting to push the man off, but her wrist gets caught on something, unable to budge. Bucking with her legs, she starts to panic as nothing happens. Her eyes begin to blur as a searing pain shoots through her core, and she closes them to the world, no longer wanting to see the blood stained battlefield.
"Shhh," it comes as a whisper, his voice soothing, calming her senses, "it will be alright, you're safe now Kao-dono." As if by magic, the pain is gone with no heavy burden pressing against her rib cage.
Opening her lids, everything is a jumbled mess in her periphery, but she can't help the slight smile that forms on her lips as she sees those violet irises she has longed for for so long. There is a gentleness in those eyes, "young master?" Her voice is coarse, barely audible. She can see that familiar smile appear on the man's features, relief flowing through him.
After what seems like a lifetime, her eyes begin to focus in on her surroundings, and on the man standing above, hand lightly touching her shoulder. Kaoru's breathing increases once again, brows furrowing, trying to understand as Kenshin's face becomes clear.
With a start, "don't touch me!" Kaoru bolts upright, wincing, clutching her abdomen, and realizing that one wrist is handcuffed to the bedpost.
"Stop moving so much, you'll hurt yourself." Kaoru's brows twitch again at the concern in his voice.
"What do you care?"
"Look at me," blue meets violet once more, "really, look at me... don't you recognize me?"
Kaoru contemplates for a moment, "of course I know you." Like acid on his soul, "you're a Japanese mutt, a traitor. Someone who kills freedom fighters!" She looks away as Kenshin's arm comes up for a strike. Grunting, he throws the chair beside him across the room instead.
Composing himself, Kenshin rushes, "how are you involved with battousai? Where is he?"
"I don't know," Kaoru spits.
"You don't know?"
"Do you think I would tell you if I did?" A pause as she remembers finally what happened in the market, the image of Kenshin pointing his gun at her never leaving her thoughts.
She can feel the perspiration near her temples as she asks, "what about the other members? Are they alright?" Kaoru doesn't really know why she bothered, the officer probably had them all arrested.
"So it was a circus troupe? If you tell me where battousai is, I will let them live... Just tell me."
"You must be hard of hearing. I told you, I don't know where he is."
The officer spins around in frustration just in time to see a fist meeting its mark on his jaw. Falling to the floor, Kenshin sees Seta standing above him. "How could you? After you knew who she was! I didn't really think you would do it!" Thinking a moment, the man on the ground can't remember what his friend is talking about.
"Meet me outside," Seta's voice is like ice as Kenshin rises to his feet. Looking again at the woman on the bed, he notices bruises forming on her handcuffed wrist. His throat catches, and he takes out the keys, unlocking the metal from her delicate flesh. "Don't try anything foolish."
Kenshin leaves the room, but before he closes the door, speaking loud enough so Kaoru can hear, "Officer Cho, guard the door, make sure only staff enters and leaves." The blonde man nods, and Kenshin heads to the courtyard to talk to his comrade with the door slamming behind him.
Sitting on a bench in front of the hospital, Kenshin approaches his friend. "I didn't really think you would do it," Seta looks up, handing the lieutenant a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his lip, "after you knew that I had feelings for her."
"What are you talking about?"
Seta rises, "even though you knew she was Amy! Were you really trying to kill her?!" No response, "no matter what happens, I will always be your friend, but..."
Kao-dono is Amy? How... "Can't you just leave her alone? For me, can't you just let it go?"
"I," a pause, "She was the woman from the other night?" Seta nods, and Kenshin can't get the image of Kaoru's bare back out of his mind. "I'm sorry sou-kun." Another pause, "but, I don't think I can. Unless there is some other way to catch battousai... I will never let her go."
Seta starts the walk to his car, turning back to his friend, "if that's the case... I will do everything in my power to protect her, even if it's from you."
Seven Years Ago...
"But I don't want to do it!" Kenshin looks at the box of black dye in his hand.
"I know, but at times like this... it will help you blend in." Hiko hands his son a towel and points to the bathing area.
"Why do I need to blend in with those bastards anyway!"
"In this world, sometimes you need to choose the more difficult path to survive. Do you understand son?"
With a slight nod, Kenshin mopes to the bath, flaming red hair billowing in the wind. After a few hours, the young man finally figures out how to put the dye in his hair properly, and looks at himself in the mirror. You can't even tell it's me... will you recognize me when I meet you in the end, Kao-dono? Taking his long hair, he puts it up into a high ponytail, but looks again in frustration.
Grabbing his katana nearby, in one swipe, his once flowing locks float in a heap to the floor. "Alright, old man. You want me to blend in..." One last touch, he takes his hair from the ponytail to fall in soft black waves around his ears.
Kenshin didn't talk to Hiko for a week after the hair dye incident, but he did notice a new family move in down the road with a young man doing practice swings in his front yard. "Hey! I see you standing there!" Kenshin pokes his head from around the bushes to see a man of eighteen practicing in gi and hakamas. Shit, he must be a Jap!
To his surprise, he receives a bright smile from his new neighbor. "Do you train at all?" Seta asks, and Kenshin gives a tentative nod. Tossing a spare bokken, "here... My name is Seta Soujiro, what's yours?" His smile is infectious, and Kenshin can't help but return the gesture. "Kenshin, Kenshin Himura."
Present Day, Chong Ro Police Station Torture Chamber... (Skip this scene if you don't want to read images of torture)
"You little bitch! You set me up didn't you?!" Hoji grips the girl's hair as she kneels next to a tub filled with water.
"I didn't, I did-" he doesn't wait for her to finish, dunking her head into the tub, arms flailing, trying to push herself up. Hoji yanks her head up. "You knew battousai would show up didn't you!"
"No! I d-" Tsubame can feel her eyes and lungs filling with fluid, trying desperately to grasp the edge of the tub to raise her head from suffocation. But, Hoji is too strong for her, keeping her under until her head is spinning.
Gagging, she coughs up the water, allowing her lungs that much needed air. "Don't lie to me bitch!" Sobbing, "I didn't know! I didn't know!"
Contemplating for a moment, Hoji grasps the girl's cheeks, "You're lying to me even now!" With both hands, he gets a sick pleasure from watching her suffer, and shoves her head in the water again, pushing harder against her neck until he can feel the girl losing energy beneath him.
She is nearly unconscious as he brings her up for air once more, breathing shallow while she leans against the tub. With a slap, she comes to again, "Fine, I believe you."
Tsubame can't stop the sobs from escaping, throat burning. "You have to do me a favor now, can you do that for me?" With a wimper, she nods, "can you be my little spy?"
The girl hesitates, and Hoji grips her hair again sadistically, he doesn't care as she yells "st-" and makes frantic bubbles under the water. Lifting her to breathe again, Tsubame pleads, "stop, I'll do it!" Coughing, "I'll do anything you want!"
"Good," the officer throws her roughly against the concrete, "tell me everything that bitch Kaoru Kamiya does. Where she goes, who she sees, even how many times she breathes. Got it?"
Tsubame nods frantically, and Hoji goes up the stairs leaving the crying girl on the floor while unlocking the door behind him.
Back at the hospital...
Shivering slightly as her bare feet come in contact with the wooden floor, Kaoru pulls the needle from her wrist. Using the IV pole to steady herself, she makes her way to the window, and unlocks the heavy glass. Where did they go? Just as she tries to open her way to the outside, her wound aches, and she clutches the metal pole. Her mind a dizzy mess, she can't stop the slight scream from escaping her lips as she loses her balance, tumbling to the ground, the glass IV shattering with the fall.
Hearing the commotion, Kenshin races inside. He reaches for Kaoru, but she slaps his hand away "stop, you're going to step on the glass! Don't you see the glass on the floor?!"
"Just leave me alone!" Kaoru yells, trying to make her way back to bed. The lieutenant won't have it, and picks up the woman with both arms, regardless of her kicking and screaming, "put me down!"
"Cho!" The blonde officer enters the room, "get the doctor to put in a new IV, and clean up this mess." After the man leaves, Kenshin plops down on the couch on the opposite side of the room, grabbing the newspaper nearby. Opening it up, he doesn't notice that it's upside down as he glances at his kao-dono, gaining a quizzical look from the woman laying in her bed.
Chong Ro Police Station...
Hoji's eyes burn after staring at that paper for so long, the names battousai, Himura, and Kamiya making circles in his mind. As if a light goes off, "could he...?" The skinny man races from his office, and only takes a few minutes to arrive at a spacious two story house only a few blocks away from the station.
Battousai stands near his horse on the outskirts of town, the picture of Hoji embedded in his mind as he aims at Kenshin holding a fallen Kaoru in his lap. Putting on his wooden mask, justice will be swift, he thinks while jumping on his mare, heading towards Kyeong Seong.
Seeing his brother's car approaching the driveway, Seta steps out of the house, "what is it?"
Hoji draws his pistol, aiming it at the confused man. "I know it's you. Admit it! You're the only one who would save that bastard!"
"What are you talking about? Just put the gun down."
"Admit it damn it!" It happens in an instant, Seta moves his head to the side while bringing his hand up to deflect the firearm. Stepping forward, he positions his hips beside Hoji's, tripping the man while holding his arm to fall below him on the ground. Positioning his forearms over the officer's chest, he pins him to the grass, "have you both gone mad! First Kenshin, and now you! Don't ever come here accusing me again!" Rising to stand, Seta helps a panting Hoji from the ground, handing his brother the gun that fell just as another policeman runs up from the parked car.
"Dysuke!" The man follows his boss as he turns back to his brother, "there will be no mistaking it," a pause while looking more closely at Seta, "we will catch that bastard tonight."
Seta heads back inside, not paying attention to Hoji's words as the two men make it back into the car, rolling out of the driveway, "what was that all about sir?" Dysuke asks, glancing at his superior.
When he receives no answer, the man turns back to the road, but swerves to a halt as a man in white jumps in front of the car. "What the!"
Battousai runs across the driveway to get the two to chase him on foot. Dispatching Dysuke immediately with the blunt end of the sword, battousai turns to Hoji who has his gun drawn. "Stop! I'm going to shoot!" The man stutters as the demon approaches, and the officer releases two haphazard shots in battousai's direction.
Seta hears the gunfire from inside his house, and runs outside with blade in hand. In the blink of an eye, Hoji grips his wrist as a shooting pain juts up his arm, firearm falling to the ground. "Stop! You would kill an officer?!" Hoji begs.
Without a response, battousai raises his blade, metal gleaming in the sunlight. "Brother!" Seta screams, two steps below shukuchi, and he races between the two men, metal on metal clashing as Seta manages to block battousai's strikes. I won't let him kill you brother, I won't let you die...
Sensing the fighting spirit in the boy he's battling, battousai takes off running once again. I don't have time for this, he thinks leaving the brothers to catch their breath in Seta's driveway. "Are you alright?" Seta asks, and the officer nods while brushing himself off, and heading back to the police station without another word.
Club Akabeko...
"According to the constitution, 8 article 1," workers at the Akabeko huddle around the radio, listening to the fuzzy voice talking to them, "the law to extend the deadline for legal debts, deferring payments, and the return of rental deposits... An emergency order for the deferral of payments has been announced."
"What does that mean?" One of the workers asks.
"It means," Kamatari's voice pipes up from the other booth, "that you can't get any money you deposited in the bank... so, you better go get your cash before it's too late."
"Omo, how can they do that?!" Tae, the madam of the club asks.
"Tsk, they're the government honey, they do whatever they want whenever they want. Don't you know that by now?" There's no mistaking the slight twang in Kamatari's words as his friends rush from the club heading towards the bank.
Chong Ro Police Station...
"Hoji!" Shishio's voice booms as he enters his son's office. "Take some men to the Reserve Bank immediately."
"What? Why?" He asks while putting ice on his wrist.
"They are putting a hold on funds, so people are going to be panicking. You need to maintain order." Nodding, his father leaves as Hoji wraps his hand and wrist in cloth bandages.
That bastard, he glances at the paper on his desk once again. Battousai... Himura... Kamiya... Battousai... Himura... Kamiya... Battousai... Himura... Battou- "Dysuke!" Hoji calls, and the young officer runs in.
"Hai, Lieutenant Hoji." He bows.
"Organize ten men to keep the dogs at bay at the reserve bank, and get ten more to come with me." Dysuke nods, leaving the lieutenant to his thoughts. You're mine.
With the cloak of night upon him, the man approaches Superintendent Shishio's home. Dressed in a navy blue suit, and hat covering his short black hair, he tilts his face down as a large breasted Yumi answers the door. "Thank you," the woman bows lightly, gathering the two heavy crates in her arms.
Nodding, the man straightens his back as he walks down the road, smiling as he tilts his head to reveal his eyes, almost as black as the night surrounding him. Running quickly to where he left his clothes, after changing, he wraps his white hambok and mask in a bundle, and hops on the nearest roof, racing towards his home.
The Japanese International Hospital...
Kenshin knows he should be out looking for battousai, but he can't take his eyes off the woman resting in the bed before him. They haven't spoken for hours, but just being close to her makes him content. Even if she hates me...
"Lieutenent!" Officer Cho rushes into the room, and Kenshin puts the paper down that he was pretending to read. Kaoru looks up from her position to see what all the commotion is about. "Battousai has attacked the bank transport!" The woman on the hospital bed can't help the smile forming on her lips. Battousai... she thinks, unable to contain the fluttering in her chest.
"What?" Rising from the couch, "Watch her, don't let anyone enter or leave." He tells the officer, and races from the building.
As he jumps from the roof with bundle in hand, the man hears a scream behind him. Startled slightly, the wooden mask falls to the ground. Tentatively, Akane approaches the figure in her yard, "Hiko?" She asks as her husband straightens his back to stand tall before his wife, turning so she can view him clearly.
"You scared me!" She sees the mask on the floor, and picks it up, a look of confusion flashing over her as she sees his wheel chair a few feet away. "You-" A pause, "-this whole time-"
Akane stops in mid sentence as she hears footsteps approaching the front gate. With a swift jab of her palms, Akane pushes Hiko into the wheelchair behind him while stuffing the bundle and mask underneath her long, thick skirt. With a look telling him she understands, she turns abruptly just as Hoji, Dysuke, and more officers enter their home.
"What's the meaning of this?" Hiko's voice could make even the bravest men cower, but Hoji simply takes out his gun, pointing it at the crippled man.
"It's you isn't it?!" When he receives no response, Hoji points the gun again for emphasis, "it all makes sense... Battousai is the old man, and the son is an officer. Admit it! You've been faking your injuries all these years haven't you!"
"Are you crazy?!" Akane intervenes, "first you kill my son, and make my husband into this," she turns towards Hiko for a moment, silently nodding with eyes starting to water, "now you accuse him of being battousai just so you have an excuse to kill someone?!"
"Fine!" Hoji changes trajectory to point his gun at the frightened woman, "I will make you talk!"
Receiving a hesitant look from his fellow officers, Hoji states, "I will give you to the count of three." His face like the Devil, "one," a pause, "two," he can see Hiko shift his weight in the chair, a look of terror masking his features, "three."
Hoji pulls back on the safety, "fine! FINE!" Akane screams, grabbing for the man's gun, "kill me! Just do it you bastard!" The sound of the bullet leaving it's home nearly deafening as it rings through the full yard, the woman falling slowly to the ground.
"Akane!" Hiko's voice trembles as he tries to rise from his chair with Hoji changing aim once again. To his surprise, the man falls in a heap on the ground next to his wife as the gun shakes in Hoji's slim fingers. With a whisper, Dysuke states, "maybe they were telling the truth."
As if on cue, another officer runs into the house, "Lieutenant! Battousai attacked the bank transport just now!"
Gulping slightly, "What?!" Hoji looks at the two on the ground, "aish!" With that, the officers race from the home while following the frustrated lieutenant.
Once the men leave, Hiko goes to lift the woman into his arms, "stop, you can't." She cries, "my dear husband," touching his cheek with her cold hand, "I am so proud of you."
"I'm so sorry," Hiko pleads as his comrade rushes in. "No!" The man screams, gaining a quizzical look from the woman.
"Our son," she smiles to the men. After a moment, "Kenshin," her voice begins to fade, "please watch over him." Losing her strength, Hiko can feel it as she leaves this world, her body becoming heavy in his arms.
With breathing rapid, Hiko looks to the man next to him, both trying to mask the pain in their hearts. "I will kill that son of a bitch!" The man yells, but Hiko stops him with an arm.
"No! You know your skills aren't as good as mine." Standing, Hiko lays Akane on the ground gently. "Please take care of her," with a nod, Hiko retrieves the bundle that has fallen from her skirt. Heading back to the house with face as hard as stone, YOU... ARE... DEAD..., eyes blazing as he envisions Hoji squealing beneath his blade.
Well that's it for now. I know you guys probably won't like that I killed her, but it is necessary for the plot. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated :) Until the next chapter. Happy reading ^_^x