Chapter Forty-Five

"LOOK AT ME!"

Kenshin woke with a violent jerk, and sat all the way up. Air lodged in his chest once upright, and his head throbbed with nauseating pain. Gasping and wincing, he covered his eyes with a hand and ground his teeth to fight back the splitting headache. Though disoriented and weak, his mind instantly jumped to Kaoru, and worry dropped like a lead ball into his stomach.

Blinking hesitantly between the spread of his fingers, he frowned to realize that he was sleeping in Kaoru's bed. Not on the floor, not in a futon, but in her cot. If he was there, then where was she? The room was dark and the door was closed, but he needed little light to see he was alone. A small clock above the headboard told him it had only been a few hours since the episode in the main room.

Swinging his legs out of the bed, he paused to wait for his equilibrium to steady before he attempted to stand. Staring down into his lap, he struggled against his heavy breathing, and ignored the blood that had burnt and shredded his shirt. Luckily, it seemed to have stopped on its own. He only hoped that the headache disappeared soon, as well.

The small lab was deathly quiet when he stepped out into the hallway, and he braced a hand against the wall briefly as a telling sign that he did not fully trust his legs. The harsh overhead light of the rec room did something strange to his vision, and he squinted sensitively the closer he drew to it. Though his surroundings were sharp and pronounced, everything was just slightly unfocused at the same time. It rolled his stomach with an unnatural sense of motion sickness that he was not used to.

Inside the rec room, he found Enishi seated on the couch, and Kenshin perked up instantly as he expected his questions to be answered. The stone golem appeared irritated and distressed. Both elbows were braced on his thighs as he leaned forward, and his hands kneaded together in agitation. He stood instantly when he noticed Kenshin, but instead of the frown or easy acknowledgement that he was used to seeing on his face, Enishi bowed his head in a more sincerely respectful manner. With his mind focused elsewhere, Kenshin brushed off the unusual greeting.

"Where's Kaoru?"

Kenshin's knuckles pressed into his right temple, as if the force would somehow release the pain, but his voice was deep and strong.

For one long moment, Enishi looked hesitant, and his emerald green eyes flickered away before returning to hold his gaze.

"Downstairs." The cavernous depth of his tone was equal parts anger and fear.

Violet eyes widened, and his hand dropped back to his side where it fisted almost threateningly.

"There?!" Without willing it, his voice boomed within the confined space, and it shocked him almost as much as it shocked Enishi, who took a cautious step back. Pushing past him before he could find a way to respond, he left the stone golem to hurry after.

"Wait!"

Ignoring the pain and involuntary tremble in his muscles, Kenshin marched through the disaster of the main room. Shattered glass still covered the concrete floor, melted wires and plastic spoke of ruined equipment, and warped metal remained as a testament to the heat of his flames.

"I will not leave her there."

Following him out the entrance door and down the hallway to the elevators, Enishi dropped his chin to his chest in shame.

"A-are you sure… it's not for the best? Just for now."

The button to call the elevator was nearly smashed, and hard eyes barely spared Enishi a glance.

"This lab is a cage, Enishi. I barely tolerate her staying here. That place is a cell. One that was meant for me. I know it is not for the best."

The elevator dinged open, but a scan over the control board revealed the sub-basement levels were not accessible without clearance. Reaching in front of him, Enishi swiped a badge in his hand and depressed the correct button.

"Sis gave me her badge and told me to bring you when you woke up."

A short jerk of his chin acknowledged the assistance, and it was quiet as the doors slid shut. It was in that moment that the polished and reflective surface of the doors mirrored back Kenshin's appearance, and his hyper-dense, violet eyes briefly remained locked on what he saw. Shredded clothes were nothing new. A haggard appearance barely affected his humble personality. Those newly acquired horns, though, they were startling. No longer did they hide under the unruly mess of shorter hair at his forehead, but now stretched proudly towards the sky. Though only about the length of one finger, they were now as thick as two fingers, curled once, and glowed like hot magma.

Reflexively, Kenshin's hand lifted to touch them. However, the movement drew his unnaturally lit irises to his fingers, and his arm froze at his waist. His nails were longer than he liked, and thick like hardened ivory. They were not long enough to give him pause, however. Instead, it was the tiny red scales in the valley of each knuckle that hinted of further growth.

Slowly, his hand lowered, and he glanced out of the corner of his eye at Enishi. The stone golem glanced back, but said nothing. Again, ever so slightly, his head nodded in respect.

Shit. Something doesn't feel right about this, but I don't have time to deal with it. Is it supposed to happen a little at a time? And why can't I hide it like my other markers?

Closing his eyes against the throb in his temples, Kenshin carried on their conversation as if it had never stopped.

"I understand your hesitance. Kaoru's power is not to be taken lightly. No matter what, I plan to keep my word. I will take care of her, so you have nothing to feel guilty about."

In the golden reflection of the elevator doors, Enishi's features hardened into disgust.

"Except she's my friend, and I know what happened was involuntary." A hard swallow worked at his throat, and his voice was firm and earnest. "If you plan to break her out of here, I'll help. Just tell me what you need me to do."

Red lashes parted, and the frown on his face solidified into place as the elevator slid to a stop on the lowest sub-basement floor of the lab.

"I appreciate it."

The air was almost cold when they stepped into the hallway, and a touch of anxiety washed over Kenshin as he followed Enishi's direction. Flashbacks from a different lab chilled his heart, and his back muscles tensed. It was too cold, and too far from the sun.

How could they bring her here?! Kaoru doesn't like the cold.

Arguing could be heard the closer they drew to their destination, and Kenshin was surprised to hear a voice that was only ever calm and composed now raised in anger. The words echoed and rattled in his ears, though, and he was unable to translate what was being said. When they stepped through the door, the room went quiet, but red remained on Tomoe's features while her eyes glared tellingly. Quickly, his gaze searched the interior for signs of Kaoru. He found her where he expected, on the security monitors set up for observation. They had already locked her up in the reinforced and sealed cell he had once spent years in. Even from a distance, she did not look well.

"Ken-sama. How nice of you to join us."

The greeting was not as typically arrogant or confidant as the five-tailed vixen portrayed herself on any other day. Instead, her voice actually quivered in impressively contained nervousness. Her features, though, remained steady. Ignoring her completely, Kenshin beelined straight for the monitors where Akira sat. The daitengu scooted aside immediately.

Clenching his eyes shut to steady his warped vision, he snapped them back open to study the barren cell. It was metal, and almost fully sealed except for the smallest ventilation shaft. From experience, Kenshin knew that shaft was secured against a backdraft. A single toilet sat in the corner, and a small metal bed extended from the wall. It had a mattress but no blanket. On that mattress was Kaoru. Though she was unconscious still, her features were scrunched in pain and misery, and her body violently shivered with fever.

"Open the door." The command was aimed at Akira, but the tengu stuttered and glanced at Megumi.

"You know I'm the only one with clearance, Ken-sama."

Anger flared to life in his chest, but did not touch his face. His expression was hard and cold when he turned his eyes on her.

"Open the door, or I will level this building."

Megumi crossed her arms and forced a derisive huff.

"And kill everyone in the process?"

Violet eyes glanced at the nervous tap of her forefinger before they locked once again on hers. His voice remained threatening and low.

"If I have to."

Megumi scoffed.

"Over a dead human?"

Indignation was quick to boil his blood, but the emotion was cancelled by startled surprise when Tomoe stepped between them and slapped her boss hard across the face. Megumi stumbled, but was also too shocked to retaliate.

"That's enough! Kaoru is a living being. I don't care how she got here or under what circumstances. Stop making horrible accusations that even you don't believe." A sharp breath of emotion rushed into Tomoe's mouth, and she turned to Kenshin with a lift of her chin. Once more, she was the calm and composed woman he had spent years relying on for support.

"Himura-san." Deep black eyes looked at him for three long seconds, and then she too bowed her head in that odd manner of respect. "Megumi-sensei did only what she thought was her safest option while you were incapacitated. We have no way of knowing how long that trap will stay in effect, or if rendering her unconscious will cancel it out. Under the circumstances, we could not take the chance that those blue flames may or may not return when she wakes up. How would Kaoru feel if she were to inadvertently take someone's life? Knowing her as I now do, it would hurt her more than what she has already suffered."

Suddenly, there were tears in her eyes, and the hands she had crossed at her waist clenched together. "But she's so sick. We were able to remove the glass from her feet and hands without touching her, but she began running a fever not long ago. Please, if you must be angry, be angry later. Right now, Kaoru needs care."

"I can't in good conscience allow anyone to go in there." The cinnamon-tinged eyes of the fox looked away. "We do not know the full extent of her powers, and you only briefly gave us one very final outcome if we even touch her blue flames."

Though his irritation had quieted, anger lingered at the edges of his mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Kaoru's pitiful body trembling alone in that cell. Red lashes closed, and he decided it best to go along with Tomoe's request for the time being.

"Open the door, Megumi-san. I can withstand the flame, though I doubt I will need to."

Tomoe immediately turned away, and rushed to a far station.

"For the record, I don't think this is smart. We need more information on what her powers are. And you look like shit. Can you even stand for very long?"

"Long enough to remove the door from that cell if you don't open it." The snap was equal parts exhaustion and impatience. Arguing with the fox about everything that came to Kaoru was getting old.

I'm taking her away from this place as soon as I can. There isn't a single reason she should be here anymore.

"Have it your way." The response was cool, but there was also something a bit sad about her expression when she said it. "You really are irrational when it comes to that girl."

"Here." Tomoe pressed a bag into his left hand and an earpiece into the other. "I'll walk you through what to do."

"Thank you, Tomoe-san."

"Wait."

One of her small hands tugged at his wrist, and he paused. Her voice had lowered, and the door squealed open behind them.

"I've been thinking about the memories we saw. Mostly about how Kaoru carried those two umbrellas around, and walked by the park every day… You know she didn't do that for your father, right? I think she was looking for you."

A light crease formed between his eyebrows, and he looked down. There was something too tight in his chest to allow a response, so he nodded his head.

"Hurry up! I'm not leaving the door open, just so you know."

The inside of the cell was just as oppressive as he remembered, but he ignored the shiver it produced up his spine to instead seat himself next to Kaoru's writhing body. Sweat beaded from her skin, her muscles shivered and contracted fitfully in open uncomfortableness, and stains of blood had soaked into the mattress below her hands and feet. They were bandaged appropriately, but the gauze was pink in places as well.

The thick length of her black lashes twitched fitfully, and he brushed the hair from her face. Selfishly, he let his touch linger as he caressed the line of her cheekbone, but even he could tell her skin was hotter than normal.

Fitting the earpiece into the shell of his ear, Kenshin pulled the bag into his lap and removed a thermometer at Tomoe's direction. She sounded a touch dismayed when he relayed her temperature was 39˚ Celsius, even though it seemed reasonable to him.

"That's a high fever for a human, Himura-san. I included a cool compress to place on her forehead. We need to bring her temperature down."

"But she's shivering." The light gown she had donned that morning only covered her to her knees and barely over her shoulders. The exposed skin was rippled with goosebumps and glossy with sweat.

"That's because it's cold down here, and she's sweating a lot. The cold air is hitting the moisture on her skin and causing her to shiver. Put the compress on her forehead, and then use the towel to wipe her down. I'm going to run and get her a blanket and change of clothes."

"W-wipe her down?"

"Yes, Himura-san. Don't you dare use your fire on her. You may make her fever worse."

"Right."

The earpiece went quiet, but Kenshin was acutely aware of the camera in the corner. Putting the bag on the floor, he swallowed and unfolded the towel.

I've never actually used a towel on myself before.

"Pardon me, Miss Kaoru."

Don't fuck this up.

Trying to be as delicate, but also as fast, as possible, Kenshin cleared her face, neck and shoulders in record time. Drying her arms wasn't as bad, either, but when it came to her legs, he paused for a little too long.

"What's wrong, Ken-sama?"

The amused voice replaced Tomoe's in his ear, and he could only guess the coal demon was still collecting the bedding she had promised.

"Are you worried if you move her leg too much her underwear might show?"

"Well now I am." The rough response earned a chortle, and Megumi's voice purred over the speaker.

"You can't neglect her legs, though. I'll have the boys leave, if that'll make you feel any better. I mean, it is a little erotic watching you touch her all over."

A glare was aimed at the camera over his shoulder, and another laugh echoed in his ear.

"Just kidding! The boys left before you started. They seemed a bit nervous about what you might do to them if they stayed."

"Megumi-san, there is nothing erotic about this."

"Okay, okay. You're no fun at all."

If she was awake… I wouldn't be as sure…

Despite his assertion, touching her legs was nerve-wracking. In the end, he was proud of himself when he finished without any embarrassing incidents. He did not, however, go any higher than the edge of the gown.

"Don't forget the back of her neck."

The helpful input lifted his eyes to the ceiling.

"Come on now. You have to do it right. You do want her to get better, don't you? …Oh pooh. Fine."

The earpiece crackled, and then Tomoe's voice took back over.

"Do as she suggested, Himura-san. Try to get as much of her back as you can."

Though thankful the fox was no longer in his ear, Tomoe's input meant he had no choice.

Turning the towel to a drier side, Kenshin considered Kaoru's prone form, and was pleased her shivering had lessened. It had not completely stopped, however. Sighing, he pushed a hand under her back and lifted her carefully until she was seated upright. With all of her weight braced on his shoulder, he stared at the length of blue-tinted, ebony hair cascading down her back. It was much longer than before. Rather, it was the same length it had been when they had first met. Only now, it was smooth, untangled, and soft to the touch. The tips of each strand just brushed the mattress, but they were also sticky at her scalp and neck.

Gathering the strands in one hand, he pulled them to lay over her shoulder and bared the flushed skin at the nape of her neck. With the same gentle consideration, he freed her of the sweat that had collected on her while simultaneously worrying his proximity might create more. Briefly, his mind decided to focus on the much sweeter memory of her overheated features from the previous night, and the arm bracing her tightened desperately.

I won't let them keep you here. I promise.

It was as he had the towel half-pushed through the collar of her gown in an attempt to dry her back when he noticed her breathing changed. A hitch, and then a struggle suggested consciousness, and he tossed the towel away from them in order to lower her back to the bed. Black lashes fluttered and parted, and he touched a hand to her cheek in reassurance.

"It's alright, Miss Kaoru. You're safe."

"Is she awake?" Tomoe's voice was breathless in his ear.

Another hitching breath, and Kaoru's eyelids parted far enough to reveal dazed blue irises. They were a welcome sight, and his diaphragm jerked in joyful relief. A moment later, her brows crushed together in anguish, and her thoughts were clear. She tried to move, but winced in pain, and he placed his other hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her.

"No one was hurt. Everyone's fine."

She stopped struggling immediately, and her eyes stared up at him desperately. Transferring his hand to hold her face between his roughly callused fingers, he smiled tremulously.

"I promise, Miss Kaoru. No one was hurt."

No one but you.

A single, crystal-clear tear formed and spilled from her left eye. She blinked, swallowed, and her dry lips parted.

"Thank… you."

Worn and relieved, she lost consciousness again quickly.

"Himura-san. Is she awake?"

"She was." Moving her hair so that it wouldn't tickle her face, Kenshin's voice was openly pleased. "She's sleeping easier now."

"… That's good. I've brought her a blanket. Come to the door please."

The door ground back open, and Kenshin accepted the large bundle of futon bedding and blanket that Tomoe offered. The fact that she already knew he would not leave Kaoru to sleep alone was a relief. Settled on top of the bedding, the braided length of Kaoru's hair charm lay coiled.

"Thanks again, Tomoe-san."

She smiled a rare smile, and he could see the joy she felt knowing Kaoru had regained consciousness without incident.

"Ken-sama!" The shout came from further back in the outer room. "Cover the girl and then come back out. We need to talk about what you know of those blue flames."

He hesitated, but grudgingly nodded.

"Give me a minute."

As soon as the bedding was settled on the floor next to the bed, the salamander burst free of the hair charm and hopped up onto the mattress. Shaking out the blanket, Kenshin fluffed it over Kaoru's form, and tucked her in gently. In his mind, he opened the link with the salamander to find it was surprisingly receptive.

"Keep the room warm. Warm. Not hot."

Standing with its front two feet on the pillow and its nose touching Kaoru's cheek, it jerked its face around to look at him with serious golden eyes. A nod agreed.

"Her hands and feet are painful. Don't lay on them."

Another grave nod, and he offered the charm a half smile.

"I'll be back."

"We are better now." The unexpected response stopped Kenshin in his tracks, and he glanced at the salamander over his shoulder. "We can now take care of her."

As if following the example of everyone else that day, the salamander bowed its head to him in solemn respect. The change in attitude almost made his skin crawl.

I need to figure out how to hide these damn horns.

"I can still be better."

His refusal to allow this to be good enough seemed to amuse the salamander, and a huff snorted from its nostrils like a short, mocking laugh as it lifted its chin proudly.

"Show me."

X

A/N: I was hoping to get to a lot more than this, but my typing fingers got away from me. You'd think I'd be better at judging length by now, lol. Well, it's not too exciting, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I love the little salamander. I can't wait to teach him how to fly. The fact that Kenshin doesn't want others to see his horns is a bit complicated for him. Keeping his strength to himself is part of it, embarrassment is another aspect since he knows something is off about his transition. There is another, though, that I find completely cute. Maybe that'll come up next chapter, lol. Along with a discussion about what Kaoru's powers really are. I appreciate the reviews! I always love the love. See ya next week!