Chapter Ninety-Nine

The bonfire was warm against their faces, and the smoothed logs were hard seats for their party. Night had set in early, as was normal for the wintertime, and with the disappearance of the sun came the appearance of the stars. On that night, they were even blessed with a bright, full moon. There was an expected chill in the air, but the combination of alcohol and natural fire staved off the uncomfortable cold with blushing warmth. All around them, the forest was dark and mysterious, but before them was bright with dancing flames.

Shortly after taking their supper, Hiko had demanded that they move the drinking outdoors. He had claimed it to be for atmospheric purposes, but Kenshin suspected it was because he was not happy about the heat that was now trapped around his mountain home. Though it was possible he was wrong. When Kaoru had curiously asked if he favored drinking outdoors, Hiko had confessed that he enjoyed seeing the moon. For some reason, the knowledge had perked her up, and she had excitedly wondered aloud if that was where he disappeared to every night. The water dragon had not answered, but Kenshin had thought the assumption plausible.

Kenshin was not much for drinking. At least, it was not something he sought out. There was a certain mood for it, however, and that night had set the tone. Alcohol was an accelerant, much like gasoline, and it burnt through his reserves faster than was normal. It also, unsurprisingly, impaired his reaction speed and made him just slightly light-headed. He did enjoy the pleasant heat it suffused his body with, though. Through experience, that he had mainly gained by drinking with Sano, if he took his time with his drink, he could mitigate the effects well enough.

The komainu were pros at drinking. Then again, with a master like Hiko, Kenshin imagined they had many years of experience at it. They were lively drunks, and as sisters, they played off one another's energy without the need of anyone else. Their laughter and singing created a fond backdrop that staved off the silence of the mountain. Enjoying himself more than he had thought he would, Kenshin accepted a refill from Hiko's personal sake bottle and smiled at the komainu's silly jokes.

Next to him, Kaoru was cradling her own sake cup in both hands, her sapphire eyes fixated upon the lip of the saucer as if fascinated by its roundness. A warm flush rode high on her cheeks, and her body hunched slightly forward. Prior to accepting the saucer, Kaoru had admitted that she had never drank alcohol before. A logical conclusion when her life had been cut short at seventeen. Hiko had agreed to one refill for her to prevent any cruel headaches that she might otherwise have to deal with in the morning. Frowning as Kaoru continued to stare at her cup without blinking, Kenshin touched her lightly on the shoulder.

"Are you alright, Miss Kaoru?"

Her head turned toward him dazedly, and she was just a second slow to react to his question. Eyes of such captivating blue drew him in, and his already unsteady insides seemed to lean forward and fall into the pit of their depths. Then she grinned at him, and his world snapped back into place. It was a grin that showed all teeth, as well as how inebriated she was.

"I love you." The statement was given in captivated awe. Then a gasp rushed into her lungs, and she suddenly looked quite worried. "Have I told you that yet?"

Closing his eyes on a sigh, he reached to remove the saucer from her loose grasp.

"I see you've had enough."

Kaoru did not protest the theft of her sake glass. In fact, she seemed to be completely unconcerned by its absence while infatuated by him. Scooting herself closer, she leaned into his side and reached uncoordinated fingers for the shorter lengths of hair that framed his face. Giggling while utterly failing to capture a single strand of his hair, she instead decided to lean in for a kiss, but missed that as well. More laughter sputtered from her mouth as she fell across his lap, and he unfortunately found himself the center of attention as the others began to notice her failure to maintain control of her limbs.

"Miss Kaoru…"

Trying to help her adjust herself, she wriggled around until she was cradled sideways on his thighs with her head snuggled into the crook of one elbow. She smiled up at him, and he resignedly returned the look with one of amusement. Finally, one of her hands managed to hook into the collar of his sweater.

"Your dad was right. I really do want to kidnap you."

Covering his face with his free hand, he listened in humiliation as Hiko's deep laughter accompanied the giggles from the lion-dog guardians. Taking their hilarity as encouragement, Kaoru's wide grin returned to smugly announce, "And make you aaaaaaall mine."

Contently, she snuggled into his chest, and Kenshin sighed as she seemed to briefly calm down. The abrupt appearance of the sake bottle filled his vision, and he looked up to find Hiko leaning towards him. Though his features were warm with mirth, there was something serious and nearly wistful in his dark eyes.

"Refill?"

Gladly accepting the offer, Kenshin held up his own ceramic dish, knocked the slosh of liquid back quickly, and then held it out again for another. Even after Hiko sat back down on his own log, he continued to look at them for several long seconds with that same melancholy expression, before he finally returned his gaze to the fire.

A brief but comfortable silence fell upon the party, each content to dwell on personal thoughts. Even the komainu calmed enough to whisper softly to one another of matters not meant for others to hear. Out of that restful stillness, Kaoru's impossibly blue eyes parted, and she tilted her head slowly towards the dragon of the mountain. No one witnessed her attention, and she stared for several long minutes before her pink lips parted on an inhale. From that breath, a song was born. One meant for no one else but their host.

It was not certain and strong, like his personality portrayed, or even mellow and soothing like slow moving water. The tune was personal, compassionate, and vulnerable. On the surface, the song did not seem to fit the master in the slightest, at least not the man that Kenshin currently knew. Perhaps, though, it painted a picture of a much younger water elemental, one who had struggled with his weaknesses, just like anyone else.

Hiko did not look at Kaoru while she sang, but stared unblinking into the bonfire. His refusal to meet her gaze appeared purposeful, but it did not stop Kaoru from looking directly at him. It did not stop her from singing. It was a strange mixture of onibi desire and her own personal compassion for others, and the combination was only made possible by the freeing nature of her half-drunken state. Woven into the midst of the song, her voice offered understanding and even reassurance, while at the same time enticing him to follow her. As if sharing a secret that only they knew. Aware, but still affected in a way by her voice, the water dragon eventually smiled in gentle acceptance, but remained careful not to look.

Crackles and pops from the fire took over as the last note faded away into the empty spaces between the trees, and Kenshin helped Kaoru sit up when she moved. She did not sit next to him, though, and instead wandered a few feet away from the bonfire to stare out into the forest.

"It has been a long time since I've had an onibi sing me that song." Hiko sounded confusingly happy but upset at the same time. "I must be drunk."

"What…?" Intrigued and a little puzzled by the implication, the question died in Kenshin's mind when light out of the corner of his eye pulled his gaze back to Kaoru. She stood, still and unmoving with her back to them, and all around her in the darkness appeared balls of deep blue flame. They materialized, one by one from out of the trees, and encircled their bonfire with numbers that reached the thousands. Jumping to his feet, violet eyes wide, Kenshin instantly created a ring of the hottest flame he could conjure around them. Before he could form a full barrier, however, Hiko stood with him and lifted a hand.

"Wait."

"Wait for what? Death?" Whispering heatedly, Kenshin took a step towards Kaoru but was blocked by Hiko's quick grab for his arm.

"I said wait. Dammit, boy. Do you ever listen?" Gruff but low, Hiko waved his free hand for the komainu to come closer. "You can't make any sudden moves."

"What are they doing here?" Twisting his head around cautiously, Kenshin continued to ease himself closer to Kaoru. "Where did they even come from?"

"Onibi are only born from vengeful human souls." The reminder clenched something primitive deep in Kenshin's stomach, and leftover terror mixed with guilt twitched inside his chest. "Where do you think they came from?" Briefly, violet eyes met the sea-foam depths of Hiko's poignant gaze. "I have kept them here on this mountain for more than two hundred years. For the safety of others… and for their safety as well."

"They've been here this entire time and you said nothing?"

Abruptly, without any warning, one of the foreign onibi produced a tone so deep it vibrated Kenshin's entire body and cut his hissing anger short. Nearby, a second, third, and fourth joined in to match. Layering on top of the low note, several others offset and complimented it with an offkey reverberation that stood the hairs up on the back of Kenshin's neck. Ghostly moans crashed over the top of the harmony, and a rising scream rose and fell away. Soon the entire mass had joined in, their voices demanding and unsettling, the tune looping over and over again as they waited for something to happen. For someone to join.

Casting his voice low, Hiko kept a cautious eye on the closer onibi as well. "They usually keep to themselves. They've certainly never done something like this before."

Just as Kenshin's outstretched hand brushed the back of Kaoru's coat, she stepped forward out of his reach. She continued to stare straight ahead, mesmerized and intoxicated, and when her voice joined in it was as frightening as those of her counterparts. At first her words were closer to spoken, and were quiet like a storyteller building suspense. Gradually, the lyrics became more tangible and rose from her throat into the night, ethereal and siren-like. Then there was a pause, one that stretched the nerves tight, and when the singing resumed it was the entire chorus of onibi that joined in with her. As the words strengthened, her arms lifted into the air, the foreign onibi voices rising into a seemingly endless crescendo. The lines were defiant and challenging, an open proclamation of who and what they were. Overwhelming sound poured over them and was more than just pressure. It bore down upon him, beating them into submission. Instead of enticing, their combined melody threatened.

Then they went silent.

All at the same time they stopped, and a quiet so disturbing that it robbed every other sound from existence descended upon the mountain. Kaoru's arms remained upraised, her body frozen in place, but the onibi pulsated and flickered in increasing agitation. As Kenshin's ears readjusted, he finally peeled back the silence to recognize a low humming coming from the surrounding death flames. Glancing at Hiko, his instincts on edge, he frowned as the water dragon appeared just as uneasy.

"No!"

Both of Kaoru's arms descended with a violent jerk, and she stepped one foot forward commandingly. It was unclear what question or decision she was answering to, but her next words insinuated that the onibi were conversing with her in some way.

"If you need release from your anger, then bring it to me! But I will not allow you to hurt anyone!"

Agitation wove through the balls of flame, and the humming turned to screeches.

"Don't let your anger rule you! Give it to me! I will take on your hatred! I will find a way to bring you peace!" Emotion dipped her voice, and the screeching lowered. "I swear it." Whispers echoed around them, like a crowd making up its mind on what to believe. After a few seconds, the whispers drifted away and a single onibi floated forward out of the trees. It glowed and moaned softly without speaking coherent words, but Kaoru's voice still smiled when she responded. "Of course. I will keep all of you safe, and we'll figure it out together."

Willingly and without hesitation, Kaoru offered herself, and the onibi accepted her conditions as one. In a swirl of blue light, the thousands of onibi twisted around them like a thick blanket of shooting stars caught in a whirlwind. They crashed into Kaoru's waiting frame, and funneled into a tight spiral to suck every last onibi into the wellspring of her eyes.

As soon as they were gone, Hiko released him, and Kenshin jumped forward to catch Kaoru in his arms. She did not fall, but instead swayed in place. His touch brought his presence to her attention, and she looked at him while barely maintaining her feet. Each beautiful eye was wide in her face, but the globes seemed unable to contain the flames that burst out from them. They did not stream down her cheeks the way her smoky blue tears did, but instead drifted up and out from her eyelashes. Spilling out from all edges in all directions. The color was deep, deeper than even her normally sapphire irises, and they felt decidedly foreign to him. Fortunately, the occurrence did not last. A couple of blinks later, and the flames withdrew into her sockets while she smiled at him in reassurance.

"I'm fine, Kenshin." Pulling away to stand on her own, she swept her eyes over to Hiko who nodded his head in silent acknowledgement. When she tried to take a step, however, her equilibrium swayed, and she reached out to steady herself on Kenshin's shoulder with a giggle. "Well, maybe I overestimated myself a little."

"Kaoru." Grabbing her firmly, his frown darkened into a scowl. "Your face."

Ice crystals began to form on her cheeks, spreading outward across her skin from the corners of each eye. Instantly, her body began to shiver as the increased number of death flames chilled her to the bone. As if agitated by the sudden drop of her internal temperature, the fireform in her chest ignited, flooding her with heat, and Kenshin watched in horror as her body convulsed and her eyes rolled up into her skull.

"No!"

Catching her a second time, Kenshin fell to his knees with her cradled to his chest. Violent spasms tore through her, fighting his hold, and the warring chill and heat clashed for control. The situation seemed impossible to solve, his mind frantically trying to figure out what to do. In a strange and surprising twist, however, the scare resolved as quickly as it had sprung upon them. In perfect harmony, the cold from the onibi flames had been counterbalanced by the heat from the flame in her chest, and Kaoru's body relaxed with a slow sigh of relief.

Trapped by his adrenaline, Kenshin stared down at her with wide eyes, his panic unwilling to let him go or be convinced that she was fine.

"Boy."

Hiko's large hand came down on his shoulder, and Kenshin's eyes jerked up. Kaoru remained unconscious, but at least her internal temperature had stabilized. Shaking his head, Kenshin's jaw moved in soundless shock.

"What… happened? What did they do to her?!" Voice rising, Kenshin struggled to his feet, her body hugged into his chest. "Why would you keep something like them here?! What if they had killed her?!"

Hiko's countenance remained stoic and unspeaking, but he did not deny or defend his decision to protect the onibi. Twisting on his heel, Kenshin marched away to the house, and his voice called back to them over his shoulder.

"We're leaving as soon as she wakes up."

X

Awareness filtered through the muddled portions of Kaoru's mind sluggishly and without haste. Heaviness weighed down her limbs, and despite feeling as though she should be alarmed, she was surprisingly comfortable. A playful breeze teased her bangs and feathered across her cheeks. Perfect warmth showered over her body the same way sunlight through a window felt wonderful in spring. Even the grass under her hands felt softer than what would be expected, as if she were laying on a bed of flowers.

Breathing deep and unhindered, Kaoru blinked and focused, her brows pulling inward when she half-recognized the upward view of the heavens. A sense of déjà vu briefly upset her restfulness, and she frowned at the overly large sun that covered nearly the entire expanse of the sky. Where am I? Sitting up slowly, Kaoru scanned her eyes across the horizon in disbelief. What appeared to be a grassy field surrounded her, and it spanned all the way off into the distance for as far as she could see. There were no trees. There were no clouds. No mountains or valleys or even hills upset her view. Lifting her hand to touch her forehead, she looked down when something smoothed across her fingers, and she found that she had indeed been lying on a bed of flowers. They bloomed only where she lay, though, and nowhere else.

A sharp screech, like metal on metal, startled her, and once again her eyes jerked, this time towards the sound of something else within the strange world. Inhaling on a gasp, she struggled to her feet and stared at the perfect recreation of the playground from her childhood. The playground she had shared with her fireform for three hundred years in Death's Veil.

Covering her mouth to stall emotion, she stared at the swing set and the small young boy seated despondently in one of the swings. His form slumped dejectedly, and his little legs barely rocked to keep his body swaying back and forth. Red hair fell over his face, his tiny fingers were loose on the chains, and he sniffled lonely tears. Taking a step forward, her heart pounding desperately in her chest, she lowered her hand and called for him. She wanted to hug him. She needed to hold him, to comfort him and assure him that he was not alone. The desires were so powerful, she hardly recognized that they were hers.

"Kenshin!"

Except… that was not right.

As soon as the name left her mouth, Kaoru frowned.

It did not feel right.

Inside the boundary of the playground, the little red-haired fireform looked up, and his entire countenance brightened to see her. Jumping free of the swing, he took off at a sprint to meet her at the gate.

The name was not right.

Kneeling to catch his headlong dash, his laughter echoing in the still atmosphere, her chest tightened hard enough to shake the air trying to pull into her lungs.

How did I forget?! How could I ever forget?!

Bracing his little body with her hands at his chest, tears sprang to her eyes as he looked up at her.

His eyes were not violet. They were blue.

So blue, they shamed the world.

"Kenji."

X

A/N: Please forgive how short this chapter was, but I knew this was where I wanted to end it. I hope the fact that I gave you four chapters instead of just three this time made up for it a little. XD I really struggled with these chapters, but mainly because I have been working up to them since the very beginning. Now that I'm here, I'm frankly a little terrified, lol. I want to write them perfectly, which is not something I really think I'm capable of, so my best right now will have to do. It seems almost appropriate that it took 99 chapters to get to Kenji, and that my next biggest milestone at chapter 100 will be his. I'm very happy about it. I hope it came together in a way that was not confusing, and that I was able to properly build up to him being present in my story. I do wish I could say everything will go peacefully from here on out, but unfortunately this is where things get rough. Please rest assured that this story will always end each struggle with the love that it deserves.

Next up, Kaoru learns the truth, Kenshin makes his priorities known, and the Emperor sets his plans in motion for Neo-Kyoto. Thanks so much for continuing to read!

Bonus Song #3

Hiko: A Symptom Of Being Human – Shinedown

(Not a love song, but the one I imagined when writing the scene where Kaoru sings to him.)