Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Three

A small frown creased Kaoru's brow line, and then her heart jerked in sadness as she recalled Tomoe tucking the severed hair charm into her jacket. The emotion must have played across her face, because Kenshin's own features softened when he looked back at her. Whatever he meant to say, however, was interrupted by Enishi shouting.

"What they hell were you playing at, Himura?! It looked like you meant to kill her!" A fragile-looking woman was cradled in Enishi's arms. If not for that woman, Kenshin imagined Enishi would have taken a swing at him once close enough. It would not have been the first time, after all. Hard emerald green eyes glanced at Kaoru when nearer, and his ire shriveled to find her blinking up at him curiously. There was something different about her, a presence that had not been there before. Separately, a tingle of warning instinctively stopped him from getting any closer. When their eyes met, she did not grin, as would have been normal, but instead her sapphire eyes teared up.

"Nishi-nii." The half-endearment was all she could manage before her throat choked, and Kenshin looked away briefly. Behind Enishi, he offhandedly watched Yahiko and Tsubame help a group of injured refugees hobble up the street.

"I would never hurt my wife." The words were all Kenshin offered him. There was no time for anything more right then.

"Wife?" The word was repeated softly, and it was suddenly clear to Enishi why Kaoru's aura felt so different. Then, and only then, did he finally notice the baby tucked carefully in her arms. His green eyes widened in disbelief and confusion, but dropped to Yuna quickly when a shaky breath of pain whistled past her half-parted lips. She was in and out of consciousness, and deserved a better resting place than his stoney arms.

As Enishi turned away, Kenshin knelt next to Kaoru and asked for the charm again. "You have it with you, correct?"

"Y-yes, but…" Carefully removing her right hand from around Kenji, she fished free the disconnected braids from her jacket pocket. "He's…"

Kenshin hummed low in his throat to let her know that he had been aware of the salamander's demise. Taking the two pieces from her, he studied the edges with half-incredulity. Only fire could have cut it this cleanly. Which meant it had to have been his father who had removed the charm as an obstacle. Knowingly or not, he did me a favor. Fixing the charm would be much easier with so little damage. Fisting his fingers over the severed ends, Kenshin superheated his palm and melded the hair charm back together. In the process, he used the opportunity to give it a slight upgrade.

From out of his hand, the salamander jumped to the ground, already spitting and ready to fight. Once more, he was the size of a cat, his body sleek and travel-sized, with delicate leather wings. Diagonally around his middle was an orangish scar that now forever marked the area of his separation. After a moment, his golden eyes blinked and he peered around as if frantically trying to find something that was not there.

"You fixed him!" While happy, her words were not joyful. There was a tinge of grief to her words that hinted she was aware not everyone could be fixed in the same fashion. The salamander's face swung to her, and he rushed forward to push his hooked nose into her cheek and happily snuffle her ear. Unknowingly, one of his taloned feet came too close to Kenji, and Kenshin's hand lifted him into the air by his mid-section.

"Watch it. You have more than one to take care of now." Glaring into the salamander's face, Kenshin growled. "This is your last chance to prove you're useful." Dense golden irises blinked at him, looked over at Kaoru, and then down at Kenji in her arms. In his hand, Kenshin felt the salamander's body tense as it recognized the gravity of what Kenshin was entrusting him with. A serious jerk of its head agreed.

"Yes, sir."

All at once, the salamander was no longer small, but grew to the size of a horse. His now magnificent stature was fierce and intimidating, not just as a fire lizard, but a full miniature dragon. As before, his scales were a deep, blood red, and his tail was tipped with fire. His horns, however, mimicked Kenshin's, but were only two and not four. Circling them, the salamander forced Megumi out of the way so that he could sit diagonally in front of Kaoru's feet in a position of guardianship. The vixen frowned, but dismissed how she had been excluded to instead address Kenshin.

"What's going on, Ken-sama? What are you planning on doing now?"

Violet eyes glanced at her. "The Emperor is on his way. No doubt to pick a fight. I will not let him near my wife or child again." His hand had already wrapped around the back of Kaoru's neck, and he leaned his forehead into hers to whisper. "Kenji is defenseless as he is now. I know you're tired, but can you protect him on your own for a little while?"

"Of course." Touching his hair and then, more tentatively, his horns, Kaoru smiled. "Come back soon, though, okay? I don't know what a fire baby eats." They shared a soft chuckle, and he kissed her tenderly on the side of her mouth. Drawing the moment out, he closed his eyes and stole a few seconds of peace with his now complete family. His heart ached to leave them after only just getting them back, but there was too much at stake to let the Emperor come even one millimeter closer.

"I'll be back before he wakes up."

"Wait." The command was stern, and Kenshin sighed as Megumi's voice bit at him sharply. "What about my husband? Why isn't he here?" A tremor gave away more than anger. "Or was that just a lie?"

Standing and turning away from them both, Kenshin shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know. I don't… sense him anymore."

"What does that mean?" Her voice was working hard to maintain its logical snap.

"I'm sorry, but we'll have to talk later." With only a single step of his foot, he completely disappeared.

With Kenshin gone, Kaoru experienced a moment of terrifying vulnerability as she was left to care for their child alone, and her arms tightened desperately around Kenji's small, sleeping frame. Kenji in the Veil had seemed easy to care for, but here in the living plane, they could not simply hide inside of an invulnerable bubble. There was also the looming knowledge that, as a human, Kaoru really had not even the faintest idea what a fire baby needed to survive. Kenshin was the sole remaining being of his species. Without him, baby Kenji had a very low chance of survival, even with Kaoru to care for him.

You can do this. Kenshin'll be back before you know it. Besides, you faced down Death. Nothing's scarier than that. Peering down at Kenji's sweet, sleeping face, Kaoru's heart swelled with love and fierce attachment. I'll protect you, Kenji. Nothing will get to you. I swear it.

"Why don't we swaddle that little one?" Megumi's voice still had a bite to it, but it was at least veiled in kindness as she knelt in the same spot Kenshin had recently vacated. "We can use that scarf you have."

"Is… is that okay to do? It won't stifle him, will it?"

A light smile of wistfulness pulled at the vixen's mouth at how innocent and uncertain Kaoru sounded. "From my research, I've learned that fire demon babies have a hard time regulating their temperature the first few days. Without Ken-sama here to help, we should keep him as warm as possible."

Kaoru nodded. "Okay. Yeah, that sounds reasonable."

To Kaoru's surprise, Megumi appeared practiced at swaddling a baby, but it was hard to tell if it was due to her occupation or from her personal life. The latter was too sad to dwell upon knowing her husband had been gone for two hundred years. Making a mental note to ask for another demonstration later, she smiled and accepted Kenji back into her embrace. The vixen turned away as her attention was drawn to Yahiko's group of refugees, leaving Kaoru with her salamander as protection. A hand reached out to touch the salamander's boney spine, and she grinned at the way he gently butted her outstretched feet with his nose.

A distant noise to her right pulled sapphire eyes up, and she caught sight of feathers out of the corner of her vision before her gaze landed upon a gut-wrenching sight. Farther up the street, a group of tengu were gathered around a central figure seated in the middle of the road. Many knelt in postures of defeat while only some stood guard, their faces pinched. Through the spaces between their wings, limbs, and torsos, Kaoru recognized Akira. His form had shrunk back to his everyday appearance, but a closer look found his expression blank and his eyes vacant like someone dead.

In his arms, Tomoe's body lay limp and unresponsive.

The wave of grief and denial that washed over her was strong, and her heart twisted in agony as the reminder of her death washed away any happiness Kenji's birth had brought. A part of her could not accept Tomoe's death. It could not be true. There was no way that it was real. There were too many people who loved her; too many lives connected to hers for her to just be gone. All those nights she had cuddled against her for comfort, all those times Tomoe had indulged her so effortlessly, they were too important and precious to just be gone forever.

She was more like a mother than a big sister. I was too scared to tell her that. Now I never can.

"Can we lay Yuna here with you?"

Gasping and tearing her gaze away from Akira, sapphire eyes jerked over to find Enishi still holding the woman from before. Directly to Kaoru's left, Tsubame was already working quickly to lay down a few cushions they had found in a nearby building.

"I think it would be safer for her." Gently placing her down, Enishi's gaze shot to the salamander pointedly. The salamander appeared indifferent, but chuffed as if to suggest he agreed. Tsubame took over once the princess was prone, freeing Enishi to stand, and then his eyes finally looked directly into hers.

"Nishi-nii." Quivering, and cuddling Kenji to her like a lifeline, Kaoru could hardly speak for the lump in her throat. "I'm… so sorry."

He frowned. "What for?"

Clenching her eyes shut, thick tears spilled down her cheeks to puddle at the base of her throat. Because she could not bring herself to speak it, she pointed one shaky finger in the direction of Akira. Enishi's preoccupation with the unknown woman had obviously kept him from noticing the tengu thus far, but they were also a block away. His green eyes squinted under his furrowed brow, and he took a step forward.

"What's going on? Did one of them get hurt?" Another step, and Enishi's frown twisted with concern. "Is that Kiyosato?"

"Tsubame-chan!" The yell came from one of the children with the group of refugees, and Enishi's head whipped around automatically. It was a small girl, and her voice was pitched with fear. "There's smoke! Coming from the alley!"

As one, they all looked skyward where her little hand pointed. From out of the broken alleyway a dark plume of black smoke rose into the low hanging clouds, and with it, particles of shimmering red ash.

X

In the next ward over, Kenshin's foot came down on the rooftop of a building, and air rushed into his lungs on a single sharp inhale. Blinking, he took a moment to stand perfectly still. Half a second before that, he had been with his wife, and now he was miles away. Kenshin knew about spatial manipulation, but this was not that. For one thing, only wind spirits could use spatial manipulation. This had knocked the breath out of him, and had left him feeling raw, as if he had been moving incredibly fast. Supersonic, in fact.

Could of used this earlier.

The half-serious, half-joking thought was rueful. Apparently, transitioning into a full fire dragon had come with some perks. It was not just speed, though. His senses had heightened as well. If he focused, he could adjust his eyesight, allowing him to see what was usually undetectable. Namely, his eyes could track exactly where the Emperor currently was as he moved toward him inside of his wind power of spatial manipulation. It was surreal, as if Kenshin had been pushed into a completely different plane of existence, but had no time to adjust to it. Stopping the Emperor was more important. Aiming himself accordingly, Kenshin braced his body better this time, and then took another step. Fire erupted in the palm of one hand, and he slammed it as hard as he could into the intersection of his and the Emperor's paths.

For the first time in his very long life, the Sky Dragon Emperor found himself knocked out of the spatial fold before it could snap back into place and deposit him safely at his destination. Instead, he found himself blasted out of the air and into a nearby building by roaring, violet flames. Briefly stunned by the unexpected occurrence, the Emperor frowned up in surprise at Kenshin standing over him.

"Himura."

"Emperor." The power that projected into his voice boomed in the night air and resonated with multiple tonal layers that harmonized perfectly. The deepest layer, a trembling bass, vibrated the Emperor's internal organs with fear. "This will be my only warning. Leave me and my family alone."

"There can only be one prodigious power in this land." Standing tall, the Emperor released his own dragon markers to counter Kenshin's menacing appearance. Twin golden horns sprouted from his white hair, and his claws shimmered dangerously. Despite now looking down on Kenshin's shorter stature, the Emperor still quivered involuntarily in fear. He cannot possibly be stronger than I! "I've let that hermit live here unmolested only because he's secluded himself on that damnable mountain. You, on the other hand, would forever be a thorn in my side if left alone."

"Unlike you, Emperor, I have no interest in proving my strength to others. In a perfect world, I would gladly live quietly with my family and have no dealings with you or the convoluted dynamics of power in this country. It is you, and only you, who has forced my hand." An ill-amused sneer pulled at Kenshin's nose. "And I find it laughable that you believe you 'allow' Hiko-sama peace. You and I both know he would stomp you into the ground."

Thunderous indignation darkened the Emperor's expression, and his golden scales shivered with anger. "I am the Sky Dragon Emperor! No one in this land is stronger than I!" Both arms spread out and down at his sides, and his chin lifted in immense pride. "And once I claim the Kagu-Tsuchi's power for my own, I will transcend my title as dragon and claim my rightful place as a god."

Red brows furrowed at his dangerous delusion. "The Kagu-tsuchi is not a pawn you can simply take or control. He is a living being. A higher being. No one can control him. He lends his power to those he sees fit. All others are burned to ash in his wake."

"It will bow to me. I know it."

For the first time, Kenshin recognized something manic in the Emperor's eyes. It was well known that the Sky Emperor was paranoid, and that he prided himself on being the strongest in Neo-Japan. This mania was something much more dangerous and unreasonable.

"If that is your intention, then you leave me no choice."

Across the nighttime skyline of the metropolis known as Neo-Tokyo, a cry pierced the air and averted both dragons' attention. Rising up out of a pillar of black smoke and ash was a gigantic bird with bright red, orange, and dark green plumage. Once level with the low hanging clouds, its wings spread open wide to reveal its impressive size. The fan of its beautiful feathers dispersed the clouds around it, and it hung in midair for several long seconds before it began to fall back down to earth. Though delayed, it took only one strong wing-beat to surge it forward, and a second cry screamed from its massive beak. Slow and methodical, the phoenix began his first flight in two hundred years like a victory lap around the entire city.

X

A/N: As requested, I thought I might try to explain my writing process with this story. It's definitely been a lot different than any other story I've written thus far. It started out basically the same; I had an idea, I thought up a bunch of scenarios I wanted to happen, and then I tried to string them all together in a way that was believable and interesting. (Now that I'm actually putting that out there, it sounds so haphazard. How have any of my stories made any sense? lol) I initially did that with this story, with the sole exception that I did make myself a cheat-sheet in the beginning for yokai that I thought I might use, character names, and the powers I was going to have for each character. I also used it to make sure I was spelling some of their names correctly, since I've used quite a few characters I've never used before. I think it was around chapter 40 when I started adding a bit more detail to my cheat-sheet (mainly about Kaoru's body/death/death powers and Sojiro at that point), because my story was getting a bit more involved than I had originally thought it would be. That worked about up to chapter 60. At that point, I realized I had so much stuff I needed to keep track of that there was no way I was going to be able to without making myself a full timeline. So, I sat down and mapped out the rest of story all the way up to the final battle (I left that pretty vague until I actually got closer and realized I needed to set more detail). My "timeline" is really just a very large bullet point document that I keep separate and is roughly 22 pages right now. With this rough outline, I copy and paste the portion I want to use into the corresponding chapter (which can be anything from a single bullet point/small paragraph to multiple bullet points), and then flesh it out even more until I have a detailed bullet-point in my chapter document. Then I can reference that new bullet point directly while I'm writing. Sometimes, most times, what I copy and paste from the big timeline turns into multiple chapters and not just one. Sometimes things change, too, if what I originally planned doesn't work or if I think of something better, but this kept me from leaving out any large details and with keeping continuity. I have, to my annoyance, messed up some of the smaller details, which bothers me, and I do intend to go back and fix them at some point. However, they are not in any way problematic enough to throw off the entire plot. Thankfully. Now, you might think this should mean I can bang out chapters super quick… but, that would be incorrect. I wish it were true, but sometimes my brain can just sink into one small sentence to the point of insanity until I get it perfect. Which can stop me dead for a couple days or a couple weeks. It's annoying, but if I'm not satisfied with a portion, I no longer let myself just lazily let it be. I hope this kind of answers any questions. I'm sure there's probably a better way of doing this, and I'll certainly adapt my process as I continue writing on other projects, but this was how I did it on this story. Anyway, I hope this explanation is satisfactory.

Up next, a reunion and a theft. Thank you so much for continuing to read and leave reviews. (Apparently, I broke half a million words?! O.o) Love ya!