Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the late update. Hope you enjoy!
The Fight
The only indication they had of time passing was when someone came and delivered food, or they were taken to the restroom. Kaoru guessed they had been there for about three days. They were kept in almost complete darkness. The manslayer came by occasionally but rarely talked. All he had told them was that Eichi was not actually behind this. At least not completely.
Aside from the manslayer and the person who brought them food. They didn't interact with anyone. It was a good thing because they weren't being hurt, but it told her that they had been taken in order to bring Kenshin and his friends. Part of her desperately wanted Kenshin to find her while another part of her hoped he wouldn't. She was torn between sacrificing Kenshin and his friends or herself along with Megumi and Dr. Gensai.
They were left alone to sit in the darkness. Even though they had each other, the darkness was oppressive and was taking its toll. Megumi barely talked anymore. She spent her time curled up in a corner, unmoving. If Kaoru didn't bring her food, then she wasn't sure Megumi would be eating. She did not know much of her friends' past, but the darkness had taken away her strong façade. Dr. Gensai had developed a nasty cough that wouldn't go away. Tending to him was the only thing that roused Megumi into action, not that there was much they could do. Kaoru was struggling to; memories and fears took up residence in her every thought making it hard for her to sleep and focus.
Time dragged on, the manslayer started showing up less and less. She could tell he was getting agitated. If Kenshin didn't show up soon then they would probably lose what protection they held. If bait proved useless then what was the point of keeping it around.
The change was sudden, but Kaoru felt it. It was as if the wind had been blowing one direction and then suddenly changed. Something had happened. She quickly pulled the other two into a corner, even they could tell something was going on. They huddled in silence, trying and failing to suppress their fear. It felt like and age before the commotion reached them.
Men whose ki she didn't recognize came towards their cell. Carrying lanterns that provided more light than they had seen in a while. They blinked as their eyes tried to adjust while their cadge was unlocked. Rough hands grabbed her and pulled her out of the cell.
Horror froze her for a moment before she redoubled her struggling when she realized she was the only one being taken. Megumi and Dr. Gensai shouted and tried to get to her but were held back. The door was locked between them and she watched as the darkness slowly started to take them. She wanted to call out to them, tell them to stay strong, but the words froze in her throat.
Her hands and feet were roughly bound before she was slung over someone's shoulder and carried. Indignation finally pushed her fear aside and brought her voice back.
"I have two feet and the ability to walk. This is no way to treat a lady," she hollered. She was met with silence. Finding their lack of response very annoying, she started swearing at them and throwing every insult she could think of, mentally thanking Yahiko for expanding her vocab in both categories. Still they ignored her.
Eventually she was unceremoniously dumped in a room. The manslayer was there. He was easy to recognize even though she had never seen his face.
"Once the Battousai fails I call first dibs," the man who had been carrying her said with a grin. Maybe letting her temper get out of hand hadn't been the best idea. The other men left, leaving her alone with the manslayer. He was dangerous and looked slightly crazy, but she refused to be afraid of him.
"You won't beat him," she said glaring at him.
"I might not beat him if he was the man he was, but now we shall see." He said with a large grin. She continued to glare at him, but he ignored her.
She felt Kenshin's ki before she saw him. She was relieved and scared about what would happen next. It was heartening though, that he wasn't alone, Aoshi and Sano were with him.
Kenshin's eyes found hers the moment he came into view. She tried to signal to him that she was ok, her voice was once again stuck in her throat. The manslayer stood up to great them, putting himself between them and her. Kenshin's eyes hardened.
"Jine," he hissed out the name.
The manslayer, Jine, only smiled more. "It's been a while Battousai, or should I call you Shinta," her eyes widened in shock but Kenshin seemed unsurprised. Obviously, this man had seen Kenshin when he was still and assassin, not a feat many people had accomplished. After all, his job was to kill without being seen.
"I see you brought along some friends. How nice," Jine continued. "You have two choices: you all fight me here and save the girl but not the other two, or, split up and save the other two." The three men exchanged glances before Sano and Aoshi nodded and left the room. She just hoped they would find where Dr. Gensai and Megumi were being kept.
The moment the other two left, the tension in the room became almost tangible. Kenshin and Jine moved into fighting positions. All she could do was watch and hope. She had been trying to free herself, but her bindings wouldn't budge.
The fight started, and her eyes strained to follow their movements. This was the first time she had ever seen Kenshin truly fight. It was as magnificent as it was terrifying. He moved with inhuman grace and his skill was impeccable. She couldn't imagine anyone matching him, but Jine was. Jine lacked Kenshin's grace, but his ferocity and lack of fear made up for it.
The two flew apart, Kenshin with a wound in his shoulder and side while Jine only had a scratch on his cheek. She was worried, Kenshin was holding up but Jine was slowly getting the upper hand.
"I've waited all these years to truly fight you and this is what I get. You are pathetic," Jine spat. Kenshin said nothing but his eyes meet hers for an instant before returning to Jine, a move Jine noticed. He started laughing, "I see you need more motivation."
Before she knew it Jine was looking at her. She tried to look away, but her eyes were glued to his. A great weight started to settle on her. First her arms and legs stopped moving, then she felt her lungs slowly stop. It was impossible to hide the fear that rose in her when she realized she could no longer take a breath.
"What have you done to her," Kenshin demanded while she tried and failed to take a breath.
"You know of my Shin no Ippo, this is simply a stronger version. I've paralyzed her lungs along with her body," He said cackling. "The only way to save her is to kill me, and I would hurry, she won't last forever." About six minutes her panicked brain told her. Kenshin didn't hesitate to attack.
It felt like forever before she got her panic under control enough to return her attention to the fight. What she saw scared her more than the lack of breath. The man she saw wasn't Kenshin. It was a man whose sole purpose was to kill his opponent. She needed to stop him, he couldn't return to that, not because of her.
Her will strained against Jine's, if she could break out of its hold she would be able to breathe again and get Kenshin to stop. His will was strong, but she was not weak. She used every ounce of her strength to push against his hold, but couldn't break it.
Why, she thought, I'm not weak. How can his hold be so strong? The more she fought the more she started to notice, her will was holding back. It wasn't that he was stronger than her, it was that her subconscious was stopping her from fighting fully.
Her struggle became internal as she tried to understand why she was holding herself back. She needed to help Kenshin, she told herself. Needed to get to him before he killed again. Why wasn't she letting herself save him? Tears came to her eyes as she watched Kenshin fight and couldn't do anything.
Then it struck her, this wasn't her fight to win. She was holding herself back because Kenshin needed to win this on his own. Either he succumbed and started killing again, or he didn't. If she intervened, then she would save him this time, but what about the next time? She wasn't always going to be there when he needed her. If he won, then there would never be a next time.
Once she had figured it out she stopped struggling and focused solely on the match. Kenshin was winning. It didn't take long before Jine was disarmed and kneeling. Kenshin raised his sword, flipping it around so the blade was facing forward. She wanted to scream to him that he couldn't become a manslayer again, but she couldn't. All she could do was hope with all her might that he would win. That he would not make the same mistake and start killing again.
He had been relieved when he had seen Kaoru. She was tied up but unharmed. It was more than he had wished for. The relief was short lived when his eyes found Jine. It had been a long time since they had met. Back when he had been an assassin they had both been told to target the same person. They had met and, instead of needless fighting, he had allowed Jine to do the actual killing. Jine had been overjoyed about the killing but unhappy that he didn't get to dual the infamous Shinta.
Now he was getting the match he always wanted. Kenshin doubted Jine cared about what the people who hired him wanted. All he wanted to do was fight strong people and kill.
The fight was hard, it wasn't long before he found himself losing to Jine. He needed to win, but as the fight continued he found himself on the losing side, a feeling he was not accustom to. Then Jine went and attack Kaoru and he saw red.
After that it wasn't long before he pulled himself out of the bottom. Now that he was focused it didn't take long to disarm Jine and get him on his knees. He couldn't hear anything, couldn't think. All he knew was that killing Jine was necessary. He would kill again for Kaoru, to save her life. He lifted his sword for the final blow and glanced at her.
She was sitting still, no longer struggling. Her cheeks were wet like she had been crying, but her eyes were dry now. She was watching them intently. Her eyes held fear, which was understandable. Soon he would free her, and she wouldn't need to be afraid.
Hardening his resolve, he turned back to Jine, but something caused him to look back. Time slowed down when his eyes met hers. She was afraid, someone slowly suffocating would be. But beyond the fear there was a stronger emotion playing across her eyes. It was something he couldn't name. It was like hope, faith, sadness, and understanding all rolled into one. He saw himself reflected in her eyes, standing over Jine ready to make the final blow. He was Shinta now.
"Your name, it suits you" her words rang in his mind, clearing the red from his vision. He wasn't Shinta, he was Kenshin. Her Kenshin, the one she had risked everything to save. The one she had faith in. She was in this situation because of her faith in Kenshin. He had started killing because of the deaths of the ones he loved and would do so again to save the one he loved, but he couldn't. He didn't want to see Kaoru die, but she would never want him to kill because of her.
His sword slipped out of his fingers as tears rolled silently down his cheeks. He couldn't save her without destroying her. Either he killed her mentally or had to watch her physically die. He felt his entire self being ripped in half. It was a pain like no other and he wanted to scream, but no sound came out. He just stood there and watched her as she registered his decision, and smiled. His heart broke and he fell down next to his sword. She understood and supported his decision, but now he could do nothing but watch her die.
She closed her eyes and he felt her spirit rally one last time. He clung to the feeling of her ki, desperate to imprint it on his soul. It was the only way he could keep her with him.
The crack as her spirit broke through Jine's hold was almost audible. Her eyes flew open as she coughed before sucking in air. Her body sagged now that it was not being held in place. He was by her side in an instant, supporting her while she greedily sucked air in to her deprived lungs. Her body shook from exertion, but she was breathing again. She was breathing. The tears in his eyes became tears of joy as he clutched her tight to his body, not wanting to let her leave his side ever again. The broken pieces of his soul started to slowly put themselves back together as he relished in the feeling of her heart beat.
"Your all right now, that you are," he said. Reassuring himself as much as her.
"We both are," she said quietly.
He felt Jine move and instinctively reached for a sword that was not there. In his rush he had left it on the ground next to Jine. With nothing left to do, he shielded Kaoru with his body, but the blow never came. With a sickening noise, Jine stabbed his sword through his chest, falling to the ground dead.