Chapter Ninety-Four
Red lashes parted abruptly, like a wild animal coming into awareness, and they stretched wide as his brain deciphered the information surrounding him to determine where he was. The quick reaction was proven to be pointless, however, as his eyes crossed to focus on the slowly spinning form of the Kagu-tsuchi floating in the air above him. Frowning, and tilting his head to one side, he realized that he was lying flat underneath the Kagu-tsuchi, and the trickle of white flames that fell from its hilt was landing directly at the center of his chest.
I'm in that dream again. Which means…
Averting his gaze from the sword, he directed his attention high overhead to the large bird wrapped around the exterior of his core. Its snore was as obnoxious as ever, and Kenshin actually crooked a smile.
Now that I think about it… Sano snored just like that. He gave away our position all the time.
Chuckling under his breath, Kenshin tried to roll out from under the Kagu-tsuchi, but scowled to find that he could not move. The pressure of air inside of his core had intensified to the point that it was pinning him in place. No longer was it comforting. It was overwhelming and stifling, like the interior of an egg that was no longer big enough for its occupant.
"What… the… hell…?"
"YOU MUST STOP."
Jerking his head back towards the Kagu-tsuchi, Kenshin grudgingly relaxed. The Kagu-tsuchi was speaking to him again.
"What's going on?"
"YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR LIMIT. YOU MUST STOP."
Blinking, Kenshin shifted his head up and to the side until he could see the crossed wound in his core. It was cracking around the edges, and the belly of the phoenix was fighting to stay intact. Despite the reinforced appearance of his core and the hardening of dragon scales along the exterior, the damage would not allow it to fully crystalize into the solid form it needed to be to contain the power of a dragon.
"IF YOU CONTINUE, YOU RISK PERMAMENT DAMAGE. TO YOURSELF. TO HIM." Kenshin glanced up at the snoring visage of the autumn rooster. "TO THE WORLD." Shocked, his attention returned quickly to the floating sword.
"Why the world?"
"YOU ARE MY VESSEL."
The response was ludicrously simple, and Kenshin felt foolish.
"Right…" I have to ask, while I have the chance. "My father told me that you are meant to have a permanent vessel, but… I am the last fire demon in the world. There won't be any more vessels after I die. Please… can you tell me what I need to do?"
"REST."
Conflicted by the command, Kenshin frowned.
"That's it? But…"
"I WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU MUST DO, WHEN THE TIME COMES."
X
Like déjà vu, red lashes snapped apart, but this time his eyes were met with the warmly lit ceiling of the mountain cottage. Something heavy pinned his left arm to the futon, and was draped across him like a climbing vine. Sluggish, but warm, he turned his head to find Kaoru snuggled into his side, her head tucked into the crevice of his shoulder. Unconsciously, his tensed muscles relaxed, and he rolled onto his side to hug her into his chest. The events of her disappearance resurfaced in his memories, and his arms tightened desperately. Against his back, her left hand fisted into his shirt to convey her own strong desire to keep him close. Pressing his lips to the crown of her head, he kissed her tenderly, again and again and again in slow reassuring nuzzles to convince them both that she was safe. When the tension finally melted out of her body, he lifted his chin to rest it on the curve of her skull.
"How long?" The words croaked from his throat, and she took a deep breath before responding.
"Two days."
Shit. Honestly, he felt like he could sleep for two more days.
"Ayame-san woke up yesterday, but she's taking a nap right now. Suzume-san and I decided to take one, too. I'm… glad I did."
"Hmm." Sneaking a hand lower under the covers, he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her hips into him as well. The closer they were together, the better. "Me, too." If he had woken to her out of sight, he might have panicked and broke something. Like the mountain. "What time is it?"
"Afternoon. It was around one when we laid down. It snowed again yesterday, but today there isn't a cloud in the sky. It's still pretty cold outside, though."
"Hmm…" Snuggling his nose into her hair, he sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss Kaoru. It seems like you've done nothing but watch me sleep for a week."
"So? You're cute when you're asleep." He snorted in offense and she giggled happily. When she continued, her voice was soft and affectionate. "I know how hard you've been working. I want you to get plenty of rest. If I've been restless, it's because I wanted to be out there with you."
"Not in a million years would I be okay with you training in a blizzard like that."
"Well…" Her tone pitched higher than normal, and she sounded a bit guilty. "I'm not saying I wanted to do that exactly. That kind of training sounds like it was for the birds."
The vibration in his chest shook his entire body as his tried to quiet his laughter, and she grinned into his shirt.
"More like a snow monster." Lowering his voice, he whispered his next words teasingly. "Or a damn water dragon." More giggles lightened the air, and then the divider door to the kitchen slammed aside.
"Save the flirting for your own house." The gruff demand sent Kaoru off into a wilder fit of giggles, but since she ducked her head under the covers to muffle the sounds into his diaphragm, she effectively left Kenshin alone to sheepishly nod at Hiko's towering form.
"Sorry, Hiko-sama."
"Hmph. At least you're awake, I suppose. Can you walk?"
"I…" Before he could answer, Hiko talked over him.
"I'm taking the girls to the hot spring. Come if you want. Are you ready, Kamiya-san?"
Kaoru's head popped out from under the covers, and she grinned.
"Yep!"
"We're ready, too, Master." Both komainu spoke up from the other side of the short divider screen that separated the futons. Ayame's voice was still soft with fatigue.
"You're going to go?" Exhaustion clung to Kenshin's muscles and showed itself clearly when he tried to sit up with Kaoru. The arm under him shook, and his body felt heavier than normal.
"I had planned to. Hiko-sama said the hot spring has healing properties. I wanted to help with Ayame."
"Alright." Squeezing his eyes shut to reset his equilibrium, Kenshin stretched his shoulders and cautiously gained his feet. "I'll change clothes."
"You don't want to rest some more?" Kaoru's worried interjection formed a closed-eyed smile on his face.
"You want me to lay here with nothing to do but think about you naked in a hot spring?"
Giggles from the komainu informed them that they had overheard, and Kaoru pressed both hands flat over his smiling mouth.
"I'm not going to be naked!" Whispering the words fiercely, she pouted when he started to chuckle. "What are you going to do anyway? Are you going to get in with us?" The question was disbelieving and hopeful at the same time.
"The rocks around the hot spring should be warm. I'll use them to recharge."
"Well… alright."
A quick lean in placed his mouth next to her ear.
"And maybe I'll sneak a peek at you being 'not naked' in the hot spring."
She rolled her eyes and turned away, but her neck was red when she berated him.
"Idiot."
"What did I say about flirting in my house?!" The shout came from the kitchen, and the komainu giggled again.
When everyone was ready to depart, Kaoru offered to carry the bag with everyone's towels and change of clothes. She refused Kenshin's offer to carry it for her, and instead slipped her hand into his with a blushing smile. While they waited in the yard, the komainu followed Hiko to the veranda where he was putting on his shoes. Ayame moved slow and gingerly, a direct contrast to her self-proclaimed title of Swift. When Hiko stood, it was abruptly clear how tall he was at full height, even when standing lower off the veranda. For such an intimidating looking man, he was gentle when he picked Ayame up. With her curled into the crook of his right arm, he pivoted and picked up Suzume with his left. It was the softest Kenshin had ever seen Hiko act, and there was something nostalgic about the span of his back as he led them into the tree line. It took Kenshin a few minutes to figure out why.
My father used to carry me like that.
A small smile tugged at his mouth, but it disappeared when Kaoru smothered a giggle under her breath. Glancing next to him, he caught her a second before she looked quickly away. Her hand had tightened around his, though.
"They look happy. It's honestly adorable."
Ayame had rested her head on Hiko's shoulder, as she was still very much in pain from her wounds. Suzume sat upright on the opposite side, and her arms wrapped around Hiko's neck as she watched their path up ahead. For a time, they seemed to be as young as their outward appearance suggested they were. Though they called him big brother, he had never forgotten that they were older than he was. Training with them had resulted in a deep-seeded respect for their abilities. As a result, he felt nothing but shame for their current condition.
I should have protected them. It's my fault they were hurt. Violet eyes lowered to stare at the bandage-wrapped hand curled around his. I need to be better.
"YOU MUST STOP."
The echoing words were clear in his mind, but Kenshin shook his head to be rid of them.
There was no snow around the hot spring, and the water steamed constantly into the cold air. It was not a large hot spring, but a divider wall of bamboo separated the section closest to a small, well-built changing room. Natural steps had been worn into the rocks leading down into the water, and places to sit and recline could be seen under the surface. Further out into the water, the bamboo wall ended, leaving the spring completely open at one end. On an elevated section off to the side, a beautiful tree covered in plum blossoms bloomed as a flush of soft color against the backdrop of snow.
Next to the changing room, Kaoru dropped the bag she carried to unzip it while Hiko settled the komainu down next to the sliding doors. Suzume held both of Ayame's hands for support while they waited for Kaoru. Though they would not be naked, as Kaoru had assured Kenshin, they would be only in towels to allow the water the ability to fully cleanse their burns. Kaoru had only decided to do the same after confirming there would be something separating them from the water dragon.
"Did you pack us a snack?" Two bento boxes were uncovered inside the bag, and Kaoru grinned while standing. A grunt of agreement from Hiko preceded his short explanation.
"I brought you girls some sweets, and there's tea in the thermos." One of the bento boxes was taken from Kaoru and shoved at Kenshin. "This one's yours. You haven't eaten anything for two days. Eat, rest… and reflect on your battle."
Red eyebrows shot upwards, and it took him a moment before he bowed forward at Hiko's retreating back.
"Yes, Master."
Straightening his spine slowly, his gaze dropped to absently watch Kaoru fish out three towels from the bag, and his mind went blank to absorb all of the warmth he had received since awakening. A few seconds later, he blinked back into reality to find Kaoru staring at him with a lifted brow.
"Kenshin." Her other brow joined the one she had arched, and then she jerked her head to one side pointedly.
"What?" Confused, he froze in place like a cornered mouse as she jerked her head a couple more times towards her left.
"Get over here, boy! Let the women change!"
Jumping, Kenshin grasped the bento box with both hands and jogged to the other side of the bamboo wall. "Right. Sorry." Behind him, feminine giggles taunted his brief lapse in awareness, but he found the sound comforting and familiar.
The small building for changing was little more than a room with two stools and a dry place to store clothes and towels, but it was comfortable. It was certainly better than stripping in the open. Kaoru thought it was a sweet gesture on Hiko's part to have built it for the komainu to use. She said as much as she helped Ayame remove her clothes so that she could gently wrap her in a towel.
"Master is very kind." The elder's response was made with a warm smile, but Suzume followed it with a tinkling laugh.
"He mainly put up the bamboo divider because he wanted to enjoy his own soaks in peace, though."
Sapphire eyes closed on an amused smile.
"Do you tend to play in the water?"
"Of course!" They both answered and shared an impish look, to which Kaoru laughed along.
With Suzume on one side of Ayame and Kaoru on her other, they helped her carefully outside and into the water. The hot water briefly stung her wounded palm, but she refrained from wincing or bringing any attention to it. Tears had sprung to Ayame's eyes in reaction to her own painful dip, but the little lion guardian made no sound. Kaoru would have felt quite pathetic to cry about her own small abrasion when the komainu had withstood what she could only imagine was agonizing. She did worry about how long they would be able to stand sitting in the hot spring when it was so uncomfortable, even if it was supposed to have healing properties. Her concern was washed away only moments later when the pain eased and her muscles relaxed. Two equally grateful sighs from the komainu echoed her relief, and she knew they had experienced the same thing.
"Oh, wow. This hot spring is wonderful."
"Don't fall asleep and drown." Hiko's brusque concern filtered through the bamboo divider, and Kaoru smiled even as she closed her eyes.
"Yes, sir."
With Ayame on her right and Suzume on her left, Kaoru leaned back into the rocks behind them while keeping an arm around the waist of each komainu, just to be safe. It took only a few minutes before they rested their heads on her shoulders, and she smiled as she remembered doing the same to her mother long, long ago. Wandering down fanciful imaginings, her smile widened as she pictured her father sharing a dry sauna with Kenshin and his father. What would they have talked about? Would they have argued over sword styles? Or would they have banded together over their dislike of ice cream? She was more than sure they would have gotten along.
"Hey, Kenshin?" There was a pause before his muffled voice responded.
"Hmm? What is it?" He sounded sleepy still, and her heart briefly constricted with affection.
"I… I think you should know that Hiko-sama isn't the first dragon I've ever met."
"Is that right?" Instead of Kenshin, the dragon of the mountain answered, and his voice was intrigued.
"Yes. Kenshin… did you know? That your father was a fire dragon?"
The komainu gasped in surprise, but Kenshin's soft voice was quietly proud.
"I know." There was a pause, after which he chuckled ruefully. "Now, anyway. I didn't know for a long time. He never told me, and it never occurred to me that he might not be just a fire demon. Looking back, I should have known. He perfected the use of every flame he learned. Honestly, it would be stranger if he wasn't one."
"I'm more surprised to learn that you met his father." Ayame and Suzume agreed with Hiko, and Kaoru's expression was a touch pained.
"It was only once, and it was pretty much an accident. He was very kind to me, though, and very smitten with his only son." Teasing lifted her tone, and she giggled when Kenshin groaned.
"Do you have to bring that up every time?" He complained, but there was still a smile in his words. "How… did you find out that he was a dragon, Miss Kaoru?"
Biting her lip, sapphire eyes gazed out across the surface of the hot spring and over to the plum blossoms.
"Gein… the spider demon, he said it, when he talked about how… how your father died."
"I see." There was sadness in his tone, but no longer any anger for the premature death of his father. "I also figured it out during this last fight, because of the one in bandages. He claimed that he was the one responsible for my father's death."
"Was he also revived with necromancy?" The deep rumble of Hiko's voice interjected, and Kaoru frowned when Kenshin agreed. "Hmm. Your conclusion makes sense then."
"What does? What do you mean? How does that explain that your father was a dragon?" Unable to connect how Shishio being revived equaled Kenshin's father being a dragon, Kaoru sat up a little straighter and questioned them so that she could understand as well.
"Because killing a dragon is not just difficult, it's taboo. Anyone who kills a dragon, will die as well. Painfully."
Kenshin elaborated on Hiko's explanation.
"That man was covered in bandages… the same way someone who has suffered from severe burns would be. Even revived by necromancy, his soul was burnt by the crime he committed in killing my father. Once I learned that he had a Death Power, that he had died, I knew what had happened. He may have killed my father, but he suffered the consequence tenfold… There was nothing left for me to take revenge for."
"…Oh." Kaoru looked down as she came to her own conclusions about the broken soul of the man she knew as Shishio, but kept the knowledge to herself.
"The encounter also explained to me how the humans at the Arctic Lab were able to damage my core." Kenshin's voice had turned grim, and Kaoru turned her head so that her ear was angled to listen.
"How's that, boy?" Hiko's genuine surprise spoke to the gravity of the information.
"My father was killed with the sword that man used. It was drenched with the blood of a fire dragon. I recognized it, because it was the same sword the humans at the Arctic Lab used to cut me open. I've always wondered how they were able to achieve something like that with just a katana, but now I know. My father's own blood made it possible. I don't know how they ended up with it back then, but I'm just as interested to know how that shadow demon got his hands on it now."
"Why didn't you bring it back? A weapon like that should be sealed away." The turn in the conversation had become serious, and Hiko's beratement was not so much annoyed as troubled.
"I had planned to, but…"
Kaoru's face scrunched, and her heart clenched in fear. Fear for what the future no doubt held. "Sōjirō took it. He must have known about its origin somehow."
"Yes, Miss Kaoru. It seems that way."
Muscles twitched in her face, convulsing her eyebrows inward as empathy and even guilt twisted uncomfortably at her stomach. Guilt for being connected to that shadow demon, even though it was an unwanted connection
"I'm sorry, Kenshin."
"For what, Miss Kaoru? You did nothing wrong."
"But it was right in front of me. I could have taken it."
"You did not know what it was, and we have no way of knowing how long Sōjirō was watching us. If you had tried to take the sword, he might have taken you as well." And I know that I did not have the strength to stop him right then.
"We know what it is capable of and who has it. That's better than knowing nothing of it at all." The master cut the back and forth short with words of calm wisdom. "Learning from a battle is what prepares you for the future. If that necromancer came all the way here in order to collect that weapon, he no doubt has plans for it. Which means you will have another chance to get it back. Take what you have learned so that you will be prepared for what comes."
"Yes, Master."
"Yes, Hiko-sama."
The komainu smiled up at her as she automatically answered at the same time that Kenshin did, and she grinned back down at them. She found it interesting how the dragon of the mountain could sound so gruff and yet convey such tranquility with his insight alone. Perhaps it was the reason humans had used to seek out his guidance. Had they known he was a dragon, she wondered. Or had they assumed he was something more?
Peacefully, the air settled once again, and Kaoru leaned her head back into the rocks to allow her thoughts to drift. Steam and heat from the hot spring was making her drowsy, and when she closed her eyes, her unfocused attention reverted back to natural instincts and well-known pastimes. Humming, because the song that came to her was not one she felt capable of singing correctly, she bobbed her head back and forth with the tempo before abruptly diverting to nodding along with each short note in the bridge of the song. It was a hard rock tune full of guitar riffs and the rough, tenor voice of a man, and she grinned as the words silently formed in her mind.
At each shoulder, Ayame and Suzume giggled at her, but she did not take offense and instead put a bit more goofiness into her humming. Their feet kicked happily under the water, and the splashing interrupted the remaining serenity her humming had already disturbed. When she was finished with the song, they piped up eagerly.
"Will you sing for us, Kaoru-san?"
"Of course. Do you have any requests?"
"A human song!
"A happy one!"
On the other side of the spring, Hiko growled. "One fitting for the scenery."
Biting her lip to stall her laughter, she nodded when the komainu covered their mouths and looked quite impish. It was obvious the water dragon was getting impatient with their silliness. To satisfy everyone's request, she sang something warm and happy that was also gentle, like a lullaby. It was not for anyone specifically, but rather something she remembered from her childhood. The notes echoed in the still, winter air, and ended as soothingly as it had started.
"Did you always like singing, Kaoru-san?"
"For as long as I can remember. I know I'm not really the best at it, but I enjoy it."
"No way! You have a great voice!"
Laughing, she hugged them gently into her side.
"Thanks. I'll sing for you whenever you want."
As they rejoiced over her promise, her attention was distracted by Hiko's strangely quieter voice from the other side of the wall.
"How is your hand, Kamiya-san?"
"Oh, um…" Unwinding her arm from around Ayame's waist, Kaoru lifted her still bandaged fingers and dug at the wet knot. When the gauze came loose, she was surprised to find the wound had completely healed. "Whoa. It's gone!"
"The hot spring's great, right?" Suzume leaned over her shoulder to study her healed fingers.
"I'd say."
"Your neck healed, too."
"Really?" Touching her neck, she felt for the bump where Gein had bit her but felt nothing.
"Girls?" Suzume immediately reacted to Hiko's prompt, and pulled at the bandages around her arm. Though slower to react, Kaoru turned to help Ayame.
"It's better, but we'll probably need another half hour. Ayame might need a whole hour for hers."
"I feel a lot better, Master." Ayame's chipper voice spoke as much if not more to her progress than her actual words.
"Good. Kamiya-san, take this boy back to the house. He passed out on the rocks and he's starting to snore. If he falls in, I won't fish him out."
"Uh…" Dropping her voice, she looked between the two lion guardians before responding to Hiko. "Are you two going to be ok without me?" They reassured her with insistent nods. "Ok." Raising her voice, she called back to the master. "I'm coming. Please don't let him fall in while I get dressed."
"I make no promises."
X
Love Song #11
Yahiko: Ghost – Tom MacDonald