Amber eyes scanned the crowds
Amber eyes scanned the
crowds. They remained blissfully unaware of the threat moving amongst
them, of the precarious line between life and death they now tottered. A
flick of his wrist, the more mere application of strength, and their existence
would be snuffed out like a spark in a hurricane.
The crowd, possessing
some inner instinct that seemed to heed the throbbing sense of danger, gave the
slight man his room. Hair, the hue of dying scarlet, shaded his half-lidded
gaze. The scorching amber of its depths tinted with amused distaste at
the meniality of his surroundings.
Even more startling
than the man's coloring - the crowd attributed this to foreign parenting - was
the Katana that hung from his hip and the careless manner in which his hand
rested on the hilt. Echoes of predator and prey filled their minds as
they observed his form, consequently even the most formidable and uncouth
veered away from him.
Battousai.
A scar in the shape of
a single cross was carved into his stunning features, reaching from the edge of
his eye to the contour of his jaw, and lending his nearly porcelain face a
dangerous angle.
~*~
"SANO!" Kaoru scolded as she walked onto the
porch. "If I knew you could spin such tales I'd have put you to work as a
story teller. At least then your lies would have brought in some type of
income."
Sano rubbed the back of his head and managed to look
sheepish. "Sorry Jou-chan, but quite frankly, I wasn’t storytelling.
That's nothing but hard facts."
An eyebrow quirked. "Sano, you honestly believe a silly
myth?"
Yahiko gave a snort. "It's not a myth, Busu! Vampires
don't make that type of shit up. Kami knows we've got enough damn horror
stories in our families without having to create proverbial monsters under the
bed."
Kaoru sighed as she settled on the porch, joining her two
favorite freeloaders. She could barely remember a time when her world was not
touched by Vampires and Werewolves. Her nights no longer possessed a
comforting darkness, but instead were riddled evil and terrors unknown.
It seemed like there was one more shadow to add to the list. "Yahiko-chan,
even those in the Mortal world know about the Hitokiri Battousai, don't your
people normally seek solace in the shadows?"
Yahiko shook his head. "Not when you're him. You don't
have to hide. There is no reason to."
Sano nodded his head in agreement. "I saw him once
Jou-chan. It was as if the sun, itself, had hidden from him. He has the
darkest damn Ki of anything living thing I've witnessed."
Kaoru frowned. "But..."
"He is real Busu. I promise." Yahiko affirmed,
with shake of his head.
She sighed. Kaoru had met Yahiko by accident when she
happened upon a group of men cornering a young boy and waving what looked to be
wood in a threatening manner. After knocking the antagonists around with
her bokken, Kaoru found herself nearly floored when that same little boy had
bared fangs at her and lunged.
Luckily, it seemed that Vampires had an apprehension for
wood, and she knocked him cold with a single blow. About that time the tallest
man Kaoru had ever seen came around the corner, scooping the young boy up and
calmly asking if she had any bandages.
Once she had processed the fact that he too, had fangs, she
readied her bokken and leveled a glare. The lanky stranger just smiled
sardonically and introduced himself as Sanosuke Sagara; resident Vampire. He
then stated the boy in his arms was an orphan named Yahiko Myogin, and promised
on his blood honor that he would not attack her.
Kaoru, after much yelling and arguing, had done as he asked
and invited the pair into her home to dress the boy's wounds. They had never
left.
After that she had been dragged into enough disputes to
learn about the world that they lived in - an existence far different from her
own. Where she saw rainbows and bunnies they saw thunderstorms and
tigers. Her life had since been constantly threatened by those claiming her
kind had no right to intermingle with those of the Shadows; and somewhere along
the line she began to teach Yahiko the same swordplay that had once saved his
life.
Of course, him being a Vampire had made it difficult as she
mostly trained with bokken and shinai, but with some careful maneuvering they
had come up with a pair of gloves that protected Yahiko's flesh, in addition to
Kaoru's cautious and controlled strikes that fell only where the cloth touched.
But this...
Himura the Battousai, the Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu.
The terror that had been used to scare petulant children into bed was not only
a man of great strength and power, but according to Yahiko and Sano; he was a
fanged one as well.
"But why would anyone from your world care about a
simple dispute between us humans? And why are we talking about this?"
Kaoru questioned, remembering the sheer hatred and fury swirling within the
eyes of those who gazed at Yahiko and Sano.
"The blood, and because I asked Sano. If you don't like
it Busu, do us a favor and leave." Yahiko answered. He paused, expecting a
blow, and continued when she gave a long-suffering sigh. "As a Hitokiri,
he had access to dozens bodies, and in turn, the blood that flowed from them.
Vampires have to feed Kaoru, we can hold the Hunger off by eating human food
and by being careful not to injure or cut ourselves, but we have to feed at
least twice a week. During war time someone as dark as the Battousai would have
nearly unlimited access to blood and Ki, two strong temptations. He could have
used their abundance to build his power and grow."
Kaoru froze. "Are you telling me he used their deaths
to make himself stronger?"
Sano nodded. "Vampires like him use death as a
stimulant. What's even worse is that when you get to a certain point you stop
loosing the power; unlike a weaker vampire that loses strength in-between
feeds. We are strongest right after we eat, Kaoru. The nearly constant presence
of blood and death would have bought him excessive power and allowed him to
become what he was at the end of the Bakumatsu - a living, breathing nightmare,
a demon who could walk in daylight with no fear of retribution."
Kaoru shuddered. "I hope to Kami I never see him.
Actually, I pray I never deal with any of the terrors your world possesses. And
even worse, there isn't anything that can kill these nightmares, right?"
Yahiko agreed with her, in a round about way. "There is
only one thing in this world that can bring him down, and I pity whoever
attempts it. Not only would it be stupid to try, but impossible to do."
Sano looked surprised. "I had forgotten about
that."
Kaoru looked from one to the other. "What?"
"Busu, do you know anything?" Yahiko demanded in
irritation.
Kaoru glared at him, her Bokken waving under his nose.
"I am not from your world baka, not to mention how evasive you two can get
so EXCUSE me!"
Yahiko sighed. "His life bond."
"His what?" Kaoru questioned, her brow knitting
together in confusion.
"His mate." Sano clarified.
Kaoru nodded in understanding. Sano had explained why he
never seemed to have a lady friend some time ago. For Vampires it was different
than it was for humans. There was no choice, it was simply a matter of finding
the one being that made you whole. Regardless of personal choice, a bond was
then formed and lasted until one or both mates died. Sano had told her
that no matter what, once a woman is claimed there is nothing she can do
besides accept it.
Kaoru was very glad she was human. Oh, there were ways to
change a human to a Shadow, but occurrences were rare. Most Vampires despised
the human race and enjoyed annihilating them, thus humans became Vampire
hunters in retaliation.
She had saved Yahiko from a group of inexperienced hunters
who had caught him in between feeds. And in return, the vampyric duo kept Kaoru
safe from those in the human realm that wished to take her Dojo. Gohei, being
the one who immediately sprang to mind. Sano had beaten him and his goons
into the ground early on in there friendship, but the man was persistent and
had come back around several times. With his latest antagonization Gohei
had promised to not only take Kaoru's Dojo, but everything else, as well.
She sighed, reaching for the Tofu basket. It was her turn to
head into to town to buy groceries since Yahiko would be cooking dinner.
"All this talk about assassins is bothering me! I am going to buy some
Tofu. In the meantime, you two can make yourselves useful and clean the
yard."
Sano shrugged and stood, hauling Yahiko up with him.
"Sure Jou-chan."
Yahiko scowled. "How come we always have to clean the
yard?"
Kaoru offered him her sweetest smile. "Because you're
the one who always messes it up." Her voice was laced with a slightly
menacing undertone, promising pain for any noncompliance.
They watched until Kaoru had disappeared through the gate
before sitting back down.
"I still think she is different Sano." Yahiko
muttered, absently observing the grass threading about the roots of an old
Sakura tree on the far side of the yard. "There is something off in her
Ki."
Sano sighed. "She is mortal, Yahiko. We both know this;
it's impossible for a Mortal to bear a gift of any type. It takes vampire blood
to do that, and there is nothing like that in her scent or taste."
Yahiko sighed. "I thought she was going to kill me for
licking that scratch, but we had to make sure. Still..." He rubbed the
side of his head in remembrance.
Sano nodded. "You're right. We'll just have to watch
and see what happens."
~*~
Glinting cobalt eyes, slightly flecked with violet, watched
the innocents walk down the streets. His lips lifted in a slight smirk,
revealing the sharp point of the fangs that graced his already intimidating
form.
"Tokyo has changed." His voice was low and deep; a
mocking drawl that spoke of his utter distaste.
"All things change, Batts." An amused and cultured
lilt whispered back. It belonged to a lady of dark hair and mocking, cinnamon
eyes. A Fox by nature, a killer by right.
"Perhaps." He responded in casual dismissal.
"Some things are best left unchanged however. I would hate for something
to catch them unaware."
"Himura the Battousai has the tendency to catch
everyone unaware," came the sultry response, and a long slender hand
rested near his on the railing. "But there is something here...something
strong."
Himura Kenshin, Battousai and Hitokiri, was forced to agree
with the analogy. Something was calling him to this city, this hellhole of
mortals who lived such a short life span and ruined what little time they had
with careless beliefs and ideals. Something was pulsing with power here, and he
was going to find it and claim it his.
"I am going to look around. Stay out of trouble."
The underlying threat was clear, if she ran into trouble he was not helping
her. It was her problem. His time was better spent looking for whatever
had called them here, for if it drew him then it would surely draw other forces
as well.
Megumi nodded in agreement. It was improbable that she would
ever do anything but agree with him, death was the reply you got for your
opinions if they did not match his. A blue-eyed man was much easier to deal
with; an amber-eyed one was suicidal.
Megumi watched as he walked away, his form blending in even
though his red hair and dark clothing was such a contrast. It almost seemed as
though they were afraid to not let him meld into shadow, as if they wished for
darkness to cloak his form.
It was hard to remember when she had met the Battousai; it
had been sometime during the war. She had been a young, idealistic mortal who
had strived to be a doctor - not something any female in her right mind would
attempt to do. She had found him, prone and unconscious, a wooden beam cracked
and splintered nearby.
Megumi had dragged him to the clinic she worked at and when
he had finally come to, she discovered exactly what manner of beast she had
saved. A demon, contained and disguised within a delicate and finely
wrought form. He had attacked her, and upon waking had discovered that
the pain in her neck was coupled with heightened senses, a stronger form, and
new set of gleaming fangs.
He had told her plainly that he would have killed her, but
she had saved his life. She was his to kill at any moment, and she would do as
he told her or she would find out exactly why that simple wooden beam had
almost killed him.
Imagine their surprise when her love of science had turned
to power at her fingertips and she could heal with a mere thought instead of
waiting for days, laboring intensely over each patient. Soon after he had left,
taking her with him, and she had learned all the horrors of being at his side.
And yet Megumi found that even now, she would not leave him.
Death clung to him like an ominous cloud - a gift, he called
it, and yet there was a cold and awe inspiring rationalization to his madness,
a sense of honor, and he was sane. Oh, was he sane. He knew exactly what
he did, delighted in it, fed from it. Calculating madness was there, but
no insanity tempered his vision. He saw everything with a stark and icy
clarity.
She feared him on many levels, but feared leaving his side
even more. There was nothing safer than being in the den of the lion, because
the lion was supreme for miles around; and the only true danger was the lion's
teeth and the fact that he could turn on you any day
~*~
Kaoru sighed to herself as she carefully made her way about
the crowds that watched her, something akin to hate in their eyes, and still
others, lust.
She had never told Yahiko or Sano about it, it would have
done no good. Could they take on the entire city of Tokyo because of a simple
feeling of dread that began to build in her stomach, signaling the coming of
something dangerous?
Kaoru could feel in the air, a warning of some type that
hummed like the muted voices in her ears.
Slut.
Whore.
Her mother's daughter.
Some things were left in the past and her family was one of
them. Most of the townsfolk would never forgive her father for taking in a
woman of unknown origin, with her startling blue eyes and cornsilk hair. Never
forgive him for allowing her daughter to live, and not only live to inherit the
Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, but to teach it as well.
But it had gotten worse lately. Previously dark glares and
snitty comments had been sparked, somehow, into full-blown hatred.
They were hostile as always, given grudging grimaces of
hate, allowing Kaoru to buy food only because they to needed the coin, but
never giving the courtesy of a friendly smile. A lesser flower would have
wilted under the stifling scrutiny and unbridled disgust, but she had also
inherited her mother's backbone. Mix that with her father's spirit and
you had the combination that made up the soul of Kamiya Kaoru.
But today it was as if a rushing fire had been kindled, and
Kaoru had the sinking feeling that something bad was going to happen.
It came in the form of a woman perhaps a year younger than
herself. Hands propped up against her hips, the girl sneered down the two
inches that separated their faces. Kaoru braced herself, waiting for the rebuke
that would leave her bruised in more ways than one.
And the words came, accusations and harsh words, meant to
barb the soul and break the mind. Meant to decimate the two-foot walls
she had built so carefully that only two men had ever cracked them, both taking
the position of brothers in her lonely heart.
It wasn't until the hands caught her in the back, flinging
her body forward with surprising force that Kaoru realized she was far from
alone. And it wasn't until she hit what could be considered a brick wall that
she saw her destination was intended to be the busy street.
Kaoru felt something hard wrap around her waist, forcing the
air from her diaphragm. A deep growl resonated from whoever she was flush
and breathless against.
"Leave." A single word with a malevolent edge was
enough to disperse the crowd. The arm abruptly released her and Kaoru found
herself peeled away from his form and thrust away.
Blue met amber.
Kaoru froze at the darkness she saw looking back at her,
Sano's words echoing through her mind as she contemplated the gaze, and then it
was gone and a flash of shadow.
His hair was the color of blood, Kaoru realized, a sick
feeling settling in her stomach. Was it only an hour ago that Sano had been
spinning tales of a man very much like the one who just sent her reeling out of
reality faster than she thought possible?
It was hot and constricting as Kaoru gasped for the precious
air. And then everything clicked back into place and the market had noise
again, noise she had not noticed missing.
Reaching down with shaking arms she cradled the Tofu against
her chest and started home, her gaze downward and hidden behind her inky bangs
as she attempted to place what had just happened.
Was the Battousai really in Tokyo?
He watched her move away, noting the controlled set of her
shoulders, the brightness that seemed to cling to her every move and touch. The
way life, itself, bent toward her small shoulders, as if she was the answer to
breathing.
Turning, he dismissed the feeling, the bright image of her
eyes, and moved through the streets. It was irritating that something so small
had interrupted his plans and allowed mortal men to see him, all with the pithy
contact of her small frame.
He would deal with those foolish enough to interrupt his
walk at a later date. They had been marked, all of them, and he would need
their blood later, for he had not fed in days.
But until that moment he would continue his search and possibly
check up on some old friends who were in town.
He smirked, and once again the only thing to show his
presence was the faintest touch of ginger on the wind.
~*~
Sano blinked when he felt Kaoru approaching, her Ki subtle
with a hint of depression, but holding to large parts of anger and frustration,
and a touch of bewilderment.
"Busu?" Yahiko questioned, moving to take the
groceries and afraid she would drop them. Her normally happy features
were tensely drawn.
Sano frowned as the caught a lingering trace of something on
her skin. Reaching over, he gently swathed her in his own Ki and frowned when,
instead of fading as normal it seemed to pulse before quietly settling onto her
skin, like an inky layer of power refusing to allow him contact with her Ki.
"Jou-chan," Sano questioned, echoing the question
Yahiko had asked.
Kaoru gave them a faint smile. "Just some excitement at
the market."
Yahiko mentally agreed with that assessment as he stared
that the Tofu, which had slight debris in it as if it had been dropped and dust
had risen and settled back in.
"Did someone say something to you again?" Sano
asked, cracking the knuckles that Kaoru had seen not only go through a wall,
but actually shattering the hard mortar into thousands of pieces.
"Sano." Kaoru said in weakly, her eyes pleading
with him to let it drop, not wanting to lie to her friends but also not wanting
any harm to befall the townsfolk. He would do it too, Kaoru knew this from
experience. He could tell who she had had contact with during the day and
was known to bust heads together if they hurt her.
A big brother, but one who should learn to pick his fights
and not always be so eager to defend her honor.
"It was nothing to worry about." Kaoru told him,
gently placing a hand on his wrist. "Please, let it go."
"You smell funny." Yahiko offered as he walked
back in after rinsing the Tofu off and placing on a cutting board, "Like
you had contact with another Vampire I don't recognize."
Kaoru paled.
Sano reached over and grasped her by the elbow. "Talk
Jou-chan."
Kaoru sighed. "I got shoved into someone today, that's
all."
"What did they look like?" Yahiko asked curiously,
if there was a new vampire in town they needed to know so they could let him
know the ramifications of making a meal out of their little sister.
"He..."Kaoru sighed."He had red hair and
amber eyes."
Kaoru fidgeted upon noticing her friend's stares, her bottom
lip quickly becoming bruised from the rough treatment from her teeth.
"Please tell me you are just making fun of us because
of our stories." Sano pleaded.
Kaoru shook her head.
"Shit." Yahiko breathed. "We should have
expected it Sano. Though he hasn't been in these parts for some
years he still considers Japan
his territory. We all knew he'd eventually make his way back here."
Sano groaned. "I was hoping Jou-chan, here, would be
old and decrepit by then, Yahiko-chan."
Yahiko was too bothered by the news to rebuke his friend.
"Damn."
Kaoru eyed the two men frantically. "What?"
Yahiko sighed. "There are reasons why we didn't want to
stay here Busu, and he is one of them."
Kaoru grabbed both of them by the ears and marched over to
the porch, Yahiko and Sano yelping in pain, and shoved them both down on the
steps. Propping her hands on her hips she gave them her most withering glare.
"Talk."
"A woman who houses vampires, especially a human woman,
will not go unnoticed by anyone here Kaoru." Sano started, rubbing idly at
his ear. "Much less a Kendo teacher who lives with two free-loaders."
"It will draw attention to you." Yahiko whispered,
his face white.
Kaoru looked back and forth. "And what is wrong with
that?" The feeling in the pit of her stomach was growing, fast, and Kaoru
plopped down on the porch to ease her trembling limbs.
"He will come here." Sano offered tiredly.
"And he will kill you."
Kaoru flinched and curled up to face the setting sun,
wondering exactly what she had gotten herself into. "Why?"
Yahiko swallowed hard. "You know about us."
Kaoru blinked. "So that gives him the right to kill
me?"
Sano fidgeted. "And us. Don't forget about us, because
we are the ones who told you."
Kaoru's skittered and pensive gaze settled on the duo once
more. "What do you mean he will kill you two?"
"There are...certain laws Kaoru," Yahiko breathed.
"And we broke the most basic. Never tell a human who we are."
"No only have we told you who we are, we have told you
about our world, the danger and rare beauty of it." Sano informed, his
voice pained.
"We should never had told you." Yahiko whispered.
"But...I, we, couldn't help it."
Kaoru knitted her brows together. Rising to her feet
she began to pace the porch. "What do you mean?"
"Your unconditional affection, Kaoru." Sano told
her softly. "It's hard to find that kind of acceptance in our world and
even more rare to see it in a mortal. Something in us responded to
that."
Yahiko sighed. "I should make dinner."
She looked stunned. "What?"
Yahiko shrugged. "If he comes, he comes. It won't
do us any good to worry about it, and besides, there are more important things
for us to deal with in the meantime."
Kaoru blinked. "Such as?"
Sano frowned. "Gohei and the underhand tactics he is
using to get your Dojo, like spreading those false rumors that got you
attacked."
Kaoru looked puzzled. "What rumors?"
Yahiko offered her a very ironic smile. "Why, that he
is the Hitokiri Battousai and his school is the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. Oh,
and you're his personal whore. What else?"
Kaoru felt her knees give out and, for once, was thankful
for Sano's quick reflexes.
If that didn't bring the real Battousai here, what would?
~*~
The Battousai frowned slightly as he headed back to the
place Megumi and he had decided to stay at for the night. It was decent, no
need to worry about being disturbed by thin walls.
There were ways to shut the annoying neighbors up, but that
usually required the sharp edge of a Katana. If he sliced their vocal cords
there would never again be an utterance of sound.
No, tonight there were other reasons to be irritated, such
as the smirks his fellow shadows had been giving him recently. The approving
looks mere scumbags had been more than willing to toss his way and then the one
girl crooning over the Battousai murders.
So far no one in Tokyo had died by his sword, and he wanted
to know what the woman was talking about. Which was why he was headed back to
Megumi, knowing the Fox had managed to come up with information, and he needed
to know was if it was the information he wanted.
Megumi looked up as her traveling partner walked in, his
eyes a stormy mess of yellow amber. "I see you have heard then."
A dark frown was her answer.
"Batts, are you meaning to tell me that you didn't
hear?" Megumi questioned, her voice shocked. She had figured someone would
have told the amber-eyed man by now, it was obvious the other was a fake.
"No." Came the smooth reply, his voice slipping
into the tight croon he used when upset.
Megumi thought about using this to her advantage, she very
rarely had the up on the Battousai, but after reading the darkness crowding his
gaze she quickly dismissed the idea. "There is a man going around killing
people with what he claims to be the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, which is absurd. A sword
that protects being used to kill." Megumi rolled her expressive eyes.
The Battousai narrowed his eyes. "What does that have
to do with me?"
Megumi blinked. "Oh but even better, Batts; the human
who is doing all these killings is claiming to be none other than you."
Kenshin let out a low growl. "What?"
Megumi leaned forward. "And here is the best part - the
Kamiya Dojo is just a few blocks from here, and guess what is living
there?"
He raised a brow in question.
"Two vampires and a human girl. And not only is this
girl human, but she teaches the sword style herself, and the 'Battousai' has
sworn not only to kill her, but to 'reclaim' the school for himself."
Kenshin narrowed his eyes and watched the sun sink below the
tree line. "Then I think we need to go and pay a visit to this Dojo."
Megumi smiled, her eyes gleaming in wicked mirth. "If
you say so, Batts."
~*~
Kaoru sighed in relief as she stepped out of the Bathhouse,
grinning at the subdued porch lighting. The sunlight was rapidly dying,
replaced by the cool darkness that made her stumble. Yahiko and Sano always
left her a lantern when they went out, their own sight needed no extra help in
the dark, but Kaoru always found herself having to adjust, come nightfall.
There was something about the night that just caused her
senses to adjust slower than normal. Blinking sleepily, Kaoru hummed to herself
as she moved through the darkened Dojo walls.
Kaoru sighed in relief as she moved into her room, the hairs
on the back of her neck had been on edge all night and it was a relief to close
the door behind her. Heading towards her trunk Kaoru pulled out her heavier
yukata, the extra protection against the cooling nights welcome against her
skin.
She reached up and let her silky mane fall around her
shoulders and hips as she emerged from behind the changing screen, her fingers
already moving into her hair into its normal nighttime plait, and froze at the
sight that greeted her.
The man from the market stood in the half-lit shadows.
His eyes were a backlit gold, hidden by bangs of bloody
crimson, and his hair was pulled into a high tail that cascaded his delicate
shoulders in rivulets of scarlet.
Next to him stood the most beautiful woman Kaoru had ever
seen, her dark hair a slick of dark brunette, framing cinnamon eyes that
glittered with a mocking light. Her delicate pout twisted in an umbecoming
smirk.
"Kamiya Kaoru?" His voice was liquid silk and
shadows; his finely-wrought mouth curling in malevolent taunt.
"Yes?" Kaoru hesitantly answered, her voice
unflinching even as her knees shook.
"Good." The faint echo of an unsheathing blade
rung in her ears as he blurred into a shadow of pure demonic speed.
~*~
Yahiko frowned as he entered the Dojo's yard, his eyes
widening at the jump of Ki. He sent Sano a look of pure panic and received an
answering expression.
"He is here." Sano breathed, his face going
pallid, his lips bloodless in fright.
They moved as one, both knowing they were too late, but
hoping against logic that gthey could arrive in time and that the blood of
Kaoru did not stain the carefully polished floors.
