Suenagaku na Aki

Chapter 15

"And that's what happened in Kyoto," Misao finished the story to the rest of Kenshingumi, minus Kaoru and Megumi. Near her, Aoshi drank tea slowly, silently.

The door to the room slid open and Megumi came into the room while wiping off her hands with a small hand towel.

"How is she, Megumi-dono?"

"She's fine. The antidote is working and her fever is subsiding. Yahiko"

"Yes. I know" Yahiko got up and left the room.

"Whatever the poison's made from, it's very potent. Had this Yuri decided not to give the antidote, it would have been very hard to cure her" Megumi turned to Misao and gave a thoughtful look.

Misao raised her eyebrows, inviting Megumi to speak her mind.

"Ano... During that time.... When you received the antidote, how did you know that the antidote was the real one? Please don't misunderstand me, but she could have given another poison vial to trick you"

Misao stared the floor in front of her. "Even at that time, I already knew that the person I was facing was Yuri-nee...." Misao let the end of the sentence die. "So, I knew that she gave the right one, despite what happened" Misao gave a forced smile. "She has never lied to me before. Of that I'm sure"

"So," Sano began, "who is this Yuri Ichijo? And what has to do with you guys?"

Aoshi put down his cup. "She was one of my best ninjas"

"Then?! I heard you guys talking about a mission and stuff at the temple. So, she was ticked off because you left her? Is that why she joined the bad guys?"

Misao looked to Aoshi with the same question. Aoshi noticed her look and shook his head slightly.

"Actually, it was she who decided to stay behind during the escort mission to buy us some time so that we could bring an important person safely back to the Shogunate palace. As for the reason she joined the Orochi group, I have no idea"

"Did the mission involve Hitotsubashi Keiki?" Kenshin suggested.

"That's correct. Were you involved, Himura?"

"No. Sessha knew about it because it was one of the Ishinshi's greatest plans that failed. We lost more than two hundred men that night"

"We retraced our steps once he was back safely, but we only found more enemies in the area. She was nowhere to be seen. Naturally we assume she was dead. Until now"

"Okay, we have settled that part," Sanosuke said. "So now we have a former Oniwabanshuu coming here and recreating what happened in Kyoto, right?"

"I don't think so, rooster. You're dim in this department"

"Oi!"

"Sessha agrees with Megumi"

"Kso!"

"She… she said that Kaoru was in her way," Misao began while looking down. "And she said that the kunais were intended for Kenshin"

"Wait. If she was extending an invitation from her leader in the first place, why did she attack Kenshin?" Sanosuke asked.

"She wanted to kill him despite the orders from her leader. Yuri has always been one to take her own initiative," Aoshi said before taking his cup to drink again.

Megumi thought on what Aoshi had said, "It seemed that she perceived you as the greatest threat to her leader, Ken-san"

"Heh! Everyone in Japan wants to get a piece of Battousai," a voice near the door caused everyone else to turn towards it. A tall lanky man wearing a police uniform was standing at the door.

"Che. The rabid wolf"

"I'll let that snide comment slide this time, ahou, seeing that your mental capability is still on par with that of a turtle" Saitou walked inside. Without waiting for an invitation to join them, Saitou took a place next to Aoshi. He turned to Megumi. "Get me some tea"

Megumi was about to speak her mind when Saitou continued, "Please". Reluctantly she complied, pouring a cup for him. After downing half of it, Saitou turn to address all of them. "Now, tell me what happened"

Saitou's forehead wrinkled slightly as he listened to what took place at that temple. After they have had finished, he brought out a cigarette but was stopped by Megumi from lighting it. Scowling, he put it away. "How many of the ninjas have you captured?"

"We caught the ninjas outside the temple", Aoshi answered.

"Explain 'outside the temple'"

"There were a few more inside, but they were killed when the temple collapsed"

"I see"

"I tell you she caused it", Sanosuke said.

"Caused what?"

"Caused the earthquake that caused the temple to collapse"

Saitou didn't pay much attention to what Sanosuke was saying as he looked at his former enemy as he got up to leave the room. Then he turned back at the others. "I have captured one of Orochi's right hand men"

"Really?" The question came from Misao.

"Currently, we have only managed to get his real identity. His real name is Kanzaki Ukyo. A very intensive background check only revealed that he had a brother by the name of Asuka"

"Hey! That's the name of the runt that fought me"

"Very good. Your very existence seems a bit more tolerable now" Saitou held out his two fingers, "by this much"

Sano gritted his teeth but said nothing.

Kenshin pushed open the sliding door and entered the room. The smell of medicine lingered around the room, permeating an aura not unlike those he encountered at Dr. Genzai's clinic. In the dimly lit room, he could see Yahiko sitting near the futon, watching over his teacher with concern. He walked over to him and kneeled beside the young man.

"How is she?"

"Fine. Anyway, no poison's going to stay in Busu's body that long, and she probably developed some resistance while eating her own cooking" Yahiko answered while giving a weak smile. Despite open declaration of hostilities between Yahiko and Kaoru everyday, Kenshin knew that deep down, he cared for her very much.

Kenshin looked at the woman who shielded him from Ichijo's attack using her own body. Color was slowly coming back to her face. Meanwhile, the wounds on her body had been cleaned and bandaged by Megumi. Clearly, Kaoru's condition was becoming more stable. Kenshin quietly thanked the gods. Yahiko shifted his sitting position and tried to stifle a yawn.

"Yahiko, why don't you go to sleep? Sessha will watch over Kaoru-dono"

Yahiko wanted to say something, but he yawned again. The fight that day had drained his energy. His face contorted as he tried to prevent himself from yawning again but it was in vain. Agreeing, he left the room.

Kenshin continued his bedside vigil. Even as he thought about what was being discussed by all of them earlier, he found his thoughts kept returning to woman in front of him. He held out his hand to touch her face. His fingertips touched her cheek tentatively, as if making sure that the skin was really tangible, and not some sort of illusion.

'Why did you do it Kaoru?'

'Why?'

'You nearly died because of it'

But his unasked questions were only answered by the howling of the midnight wind. Kenshin withdrew his hand and fisted it.

'Why did you do such a foolish thing?'

Slowly, anger rose inside him.

'WHY!?'

Even as the fury began to fill inside him, his hand trembled, as if as if acting on its own. It opened and reached out, this time toward her silky black hair. The hair would have been in his hand had Kenshin hadn't summoned all of his willpower to stop it. Kenshin clenched his teeth as he tried to suppress his desire to ignore everything else and take her into his arms to hold her close to him. To touch her. To tell her, conscious or not, that she belonged to him. 'NO! I MUST RESIST THIS!!!!!' Kenshin screamed silently to free himself of the dark thoughts. He turned toward the sleeping woman with anger and guilt.

'WHY ARE YOU SO NAÏVE? SO STUPID?'

Kenshin was very angry with himself. He had never lost control of himself since he learned the succession technique, but the events that transpired that day, and those feelings that didn't surface during Jinchuu had finally overwhelmed his self restraint.

'Do you want me to become crazy? I can still remember what happened when I saw the broken doll at the dojo. I thought it was you. I THOUGH THAT DOLL WAS YOU'

'I keep seeing it, even until now. Why, Kaoru, Why? '

'I want to touch you, Kaoru'

'What the?! NO!!! Kami-sama, I can't believe this'

'I want to be the first one to claim your kiss… To soil you, to make you mine"

'IYAAA!! What is this?!'

The other voice laughed, almost seductively. 'I want you to be MINE!! TO HELL WITH THE OTHERS!'

'OOARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!! Why? Is this the Battousai's doing?' Kenshin put his hands to his head, willing, no, commanding the voice to stop.

Then as suddenly as the voice started, it stopped. Kenshin drew a deep breath, ignoring the cold sweat on his palms and brow. Had all of this been caused by the madness brought on by his Battousai persona, Kenshin would have known on how to deal with it. But as it was, the alien desires and thoughts were unrecognizable. It was as if another hidden persona was emerging, one potentially even more dangerous than the Battousai persona. The Battousai's persona, although violent, was more inclined to be dutiful and to think of the others. But this new one was more selfish, preferring to think more about himself.

Kenshin looked at the possible cause of what was happening to him with a bit of contempt as she slept innocently. Then suddenly the urge to touch her resurfaced, more subtle this time. Just a simple and concerned touch, it told Kenshin. A few strands of her hair and nothing more. But Kenshin couldn't be fooled. Despite the intense hunger to touch her, he managed to put some distance between the two of them.

'Kaoru-dono. I don't know what happened just now. But of this I'm sure, although you have saved sessha's life, what you did and what you probably did just now, is unforgivable'

With that conviction, he stood up and left. He couldn't risk being in the room alone with her anymore. Someone else would have to take over for him.



Author's note (27 July 2004)

1)Sorry for not updating. Well, I'm not annoying a lot of people by not updating frequently , am I?
2)As you can see from the story, Kenshin 'had' a third personality. Well, the more the merrier.
3)See character bios page on how the earthquake technique was executed (the real one). The updating one this part will be done once I get translated the physic text into English (English is my second language)

Nekotsuki --- Aa... the reason why the tears are there is because the onion wasn't cooked yet. Anyway, I really appreciate your feedback. Let's see how the story turns up. I make it a bit dark, like Jinchuu, but will try to add some light moment when possible.

This chapter was being beta read by fujifunmum