Kaoru had never seen anything, other worldly, or human; move
as fast as the red haired demon in her home did. Between one heartbeat and the
next she was pressed hard against a wall with the finest honed blade she had
ever encountered pressed flat against the rapid pulse on her neck.
Kaoru’s wide blue eyes, dark with fear and a startled awe,
stared into a pair that simple held nothing. Hard topaz jewels that held
neither feeling nor emotion, just a steady burning fire that threatened to
consume everything in its path.
Kaoru, for reasons that even she could not completely grasp,
held his gaze. It terrified her, somewhere in the darkest part of her mind, she
knew that death glared back at her, but like the splay of lamplight against the
shadows, her eyes refused to back down.
“Braver than most.” His words rumbled in her ears, low and
dark, they offered the fact that he was amused when even his eyes showed
something else.
Kaoru shuddered in fear, the horror rising when she heard
the terrified footsteps of her friends approaching, and when she saw the
flashes of dangerous light smolder in his gaze.
“Take but another step and I will slit her throat.”
Sano had never reacted so quickly in his life. One hand
grabbed Yahiko’s Gi; the other braced himself against the wall. Both stopped
with a sudden motion that gave the younger of the two a case of whiplash.
“Battousai.” Sano growled, his voice darker than Kaoru
remembered it being, the air of nonchalance gone, and in its place was the
dangerous Vampire she had seen only a handful of times.
“Good. Then you know who I am.” Battousai easily responded. “Its
saves me from having to give introductions.” Through his entire speech he kept
his eyes locked on Kaoru, either not caring that his back was to Yahiko and
Sano, or arrogant enough to believe they would stay still.
“Megumi.” Battousai easily addressed the woman who Sano had
not noticed till he spoke, “Are they armed?”
Megumi allowed an amused and delighted smirk to cross her
thin lips. “No Batts, nothing on them. Although the taller one wears bandages
around his right hand, implying a use in fist fighting.”
The Battousai gave a slight mocking laugh before he suddenly
twisted, sending Kaoru flying forward. Kaoru managed to twist herself around
before she hit Sano’s broad frame and sucked in deep air as the wind was
knocked clean from her lungs.
“Sit. All of you.”
Yahiko bristled but Sano quieted him with a fast and hard
glance of warning. Yahiko sat down hard, his face mutinous, and simply
continued himself with glaring at the Battousai.
He hadn’t expected him to be so small, and to have hair as
bright as it was. But he did, possess the sense of death Sano had described too
accurately was far beyond the actual feeling. The man truly did carry the gift
of death in his soul.
“Such foolishness this group displays.” Battousai calmly
stated while settling himself on the edge of Kaoru’s futon with the grace of a
cat. “ Your show of displeasure will give aid you not.”
To everyone’s surprise, it was not Sano, but Kaoru who
replied to that. “Foolishness it may be, but at least if we must die, it will
be by our own actions and not someone else’s whims.”
To everyone’s shock the Battousai gave a harsh laugh, “And
you think you will die tonight, little human?”
Kaoru jerked her chin up, not trying to hide her fear, or
disgust. “I know the stories, and I know that you do little else. What other
purpose should you have for coming here?”
He blurred again. In the next second she had been jerked
forward till they where once again nose to nose, his yellow flames burning into
her. “Never assume what I shall do, human. Death is the least of your
concerns.”
Suddenly she was grasped from behind and ripped backwards.
“Leave her out of this, Battousai.” Sano demanded his voice sharp with concern.
The Battousai merely leaned back with a smirk, lazily
allowing his eyes to remain on Kaoru’s now slightly gaping yukata.
Kaoru, once she realized where his eyes where, jerked back
with a flushing face and furious gaze.
“As I was saying,” the Battousai purred, his eyes gliding
over the defiant expression of Yahiko and Sano. “Is that I have not come for
your deaths, but for a entirely different reason.”
Sano stiffened.
“I am here to claim insult and take possession of not only
this Dojo, but all its occupants.”
Kaoru jerked against Sano as if she had been shot. “You’re
going to do what?” Her voice was outraged as her already flaming temper reached
its breaking point.
Sano moved quickly, wrapping his much stronger arms around
Kaoru’s small frame, his eyes widening when he actually had to strain to hold
her.
The Battousai smiled languidly at the furious girl, Megumi’s
laughter a soft echo behind him. “Claim insult little human, it’s a Vampire’s
right.”
Yahiko choose that moment to speak. “She is not a Vampire.”
The Battousai smirked then, his aura darkening to a pitch
color, “She knows of our world and is therefore subject to our rules, isn’t
that why you wished to keep her from those who have the power to make such
declarations?”
Kaoru allowed herself to still in Sano’s arms as the horror
of the situation dawned on her. Her family’s Dojo, her father's sword
technique, being claimed by nothing short of a monster.
Not while she had breath.
“No.” Kaoru responded. She shrank when she saw the look in
his eyes change, from faintly amused to furious.
“No?” His tone had hardened to match his gaze, but Kaoru
refused to be back down, even as the blood drained from her face.
“No.” Kaoru responded furiously, better to die than let her
family be ruined in such a way.
“And how exactly do you plan on stopping me little human?”
He was close again, close enough for the edges of his Ki to brush hers causing
her to shudder, something inside of her both repelled and attracted by the
darkness he seemed to hold in his body.
Kaoru jerked her chin up. “You have no right to claim insult
against me.”
He stepped back then, his eyes suddenly switching from
frozen ice to amused flames. “No? Tell me, little human, is it not your school
that claims my name and brands me as not only a ‘sword that protects,’” The
disgust in his voice set Kaoru’s temper on edge again, “But also aligns me with
filthy humans?”
Kaoru refused to be baited. “I never claimed such a thing,
Battousai, and do not hold that you go to my school or ever shall.” Her eyes
narrowed. “You are not good enough to learn my fathers techniques, and I would
never teach a killer anything.”
Kaoru let out a sharp squeak when she was suddenly yanked
forward against a hard chest, her eyes catching the site of red a single second
before a sharp pressure on her neck told her of his intentions.
The Battousai carefully extended enough pressure to make her
uncomfortable, delighting in the rapid beat of her heart and the terrified
gleam in her eyes.
It fascinated him.
He had met many whose skill was beyond hers, who held more
beauty and certainly more of a right to live than a filthy human, but here she
was, hiding behind her anger and sharp words. Her gorgeous blue eyes flashed
defiance even as he knew he held her life in his hands, her tiny frame
trembling in fear.
And he felt it as clearly as day.
Something pulsed in her, something strong that demanded his
touch and his attention, something that was screaming at him to not only claim,
but to brand as his.
“You are pushing lines that are not yours to tread.” The
Battousai warned her, his hot breath puffing across her lips.
Kaoru struggled as much as she was able before his hands
tightened. “I will not let you deface my fathers life’s work.”
Sano restrained Yahiko, who was furiously attempting to get
to the girl held so carefully in the Battousai’s hands. There was something odd
about the two, as if their Ki’s repelled and attracted each other.
“If you get yourself killed Kaoru will be rather pissed and
might do something stupid.” Sano warned. It wasn’t as if Jou-chan hadn’t
already done something stupid, challenging the Battousai could be considered
immensely stupid, but there was something that was simply off about the whole
situation.
Kaoru stumbled and tripped over the edge of the futon as he
let go. His lips twisted into a smirk, “Well then, if you will not let me claim
insult on your Dojo I will not.”
Sano felt his jaw drop, and then his heart sink in sudden
fear at the Battousai’s next words.
“I will claim you.”
~*~
Yahiko leaned back against the chest that Kaoru kept her
clothes in, his breathing coming in an irregular pattern even as Kaoru turned
over in sleep.
The Battousai had left not long after his declaration of
ownership, leaving behind a stunned and silent Kaoru. Unfortunately the closing
of the door seemed to have snapped her out of her dazed state and it had taken
both Sano and Yahiko sitting on her to keep her from going after the red-haired
man.
Of course the obscenities and the colorful phrasing in which
she applied toward his person had been both amusing and dangerous, but the
demon had never returned.
Yahiko wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed. "He is
baiting her."
"I know." Sano agreed, his eyes watching Kaoru's
form breath, the gentle rise and fall of her chest as sleep claimed her form.
It had been a sound that had brought much comfort to him many nights past, but
this night it only brought a reminder of the danger she was now in.
"Why would he claim her?" Yahiko questioned
tiredly, his body drained and he could feel the throb in his gums that begged
to find release in the throat of a mortal.
"I am not sure Yahiko, but I think he sees the same
thing in Kaoru that we do." Sano replied. "And I think he is
curious."
'Hopefully nothing more.' Sano thought to himself.
"I need to feed." Yahiko's words where soft, but
Sano had to agree with him, the amount of energy they had been throwing in this
Gohei plot and then the antics tonight had left him feeling empty.
Sano stood and pulled Yahiko up with him. "Battousai
and his pet fox have left and I doubt anything is going to happen to her if we
leave her here for a few hours."
Yahiko hesitated as he looked at Kaoru's peaceful face.
"What if he comes back before we get here?"
Sano sighed. "I hate to say it Yahiko, but we can't do
a hell of a lot to protect her even if we are here. Besides, for right not, he
is toying with her. I don't think he plans on killing her just yet." 'Especially
if their Ki is anything to judge them on.'
Yahiko nodded and followed Sano out of the Dojo grounds.
Kaoru waited till she felt the last of the Sano's Ki
disappear before she rose to her feet and swiftly changed into her practice
clothing.
She hated deceiving them like this, but she needed to work
out some of her tension and the only thing better than pounding Yahiko into the
ground was working on completing her own training in her father's style.
She only had a few more steps before she reached master, and
right now seemed like a good time to start punishing the muscles that she knew
where going to be smarting in the morning.
Walking over Kaoru grasped the Bokken she favored and headed
toward the Dojo. Carefully she monitored the Dojo Grounds before heading inside
to begin the work.
Kaoru stopped only when the candle she had been working by
had began to splutter and die. Sighing she reached down and blew it out, her
thoughts wandering to the day.
The Battousai, a red haired demon that not only threatened
to take away what little piece of her Father she still held, but now claimed
that he owned her as well.
Kaoru felt her eyes narrow in irritation born from the fact
that even as every single part of her rebelled against his claim; there was
nothing she could do to stop it. This was no Gohei who chose to fight with
cheap tricks and brute force, but a so-called Vampire Lord who held far too
much trickery behind his gaze.
"For a human, you have some skill with the Bokken."
The words were laced with contempt and a mocking edge that sent her nerves on
edge.
Kaoru turned and faced the cinnamon eyes of the Vampire who
had stood in the Battousai's shadows with little fear. Kaoru watched the woman
with an unease that was only apparent in her Ki.
"You should be scarred, human. I know not which god
choose to spare your life, but it will not hold its hand on you forever. Batts
is not known to let your filthy kind to live for long."
Kaoru glared back fiercely, her already strained temper
snapping in hot anger. Kaoru was startled when she felt something slither
through her veins as if called, and by the widening of the Vampire's eyes in
front of her, she felt it to.
Kaoru shifted her feet and held the tip of her bokken up in
warning as the woman moved forward. "Do not threaten my family."
Kaoru warned her voice low, backed with the steel that had allowed her to live
on her own and teach swordplay to those who only wished to see her fail.
Megumi narrowed her dark gaze. "Is that a threat?"
Kaoru glared. "I may not be able to fight either you or
him on terms of strength or speed, but there are other ways."
Megumi made as if to slap her but long fingers wrapped
around her wrist. The woman back down, but her lips where pulled into a tight
line.
"Do not touch her." It was a dark warning, and
Kaoru wasn't sure who it was directed at until the Vampire woman hissed a
agreement then disappeared into the shadows leaving her alone with the shadow
walker.
"Threatening Megumi is not a wise course of
action." His hot breath brushed her ear and Kaoru was not sure when he had
gotten behind her when seconds ago he was in front of her but started anyway.
A long arm wrapped around her waist halted her forward
movement; Kaoru shuddered in a reaction born by sudden fear.
"You should fear me little human." The Battousai
breathed in her ear; his lips so close they almost brushed against her skin.
Kaoru suddenly twisted, bringing the blunt end of her Bokken
into her chest, forcing herself out of his arms. Kaoru yelped when she was
slammed forward, her arms bracing her hit against the wall of the Dojo, her
Bokken being forced from her white knuckled grip.
"That hurt." It was a hiss and a dangerous
warning. It seemed even the untouchable Battousai was susceptible to the pain
of wood, and Kaoru figured she must have, on some stoke of luck, hit skin.
"It was supposed to." Kaoru hissed back, her words
coming out pain filled as one arm had been wrenched behind her in a painful
grasp.
"You are owned by me now." He reminded her, his
voice a sharp blade in her ears. "Get used to it."
"No." Kaoru hissed back, hissing in pain as he
tightened his hold, her mind mentally going over how much longer it would take
for it to break. Kaoru started when whatever it was that had been haunting her
blood for the past few days suddenly surged forward started when his hands
released her.
"I suggest you get some sleep." His silky tones
where far away. "Tomorrow you will have much to do."
Kaoru wrapped her arms around herself, wincing as one
continued to ache and wondered at why he had let her go. Reaching down she
grasped her Bokken awkwardly with her left hand and headed for her Futon.
The Battousai watched the human as she disappeared into her
room and looked down at his still pulsing hand, his eyes narrowed in thought.
Whatever it was that was in her, it had responded to his
touch. His threat to dominate her had caused its reaction, similar to what
Megumi had threatened. There was something amiss about this Kamiya Kaoru, and
once he found out what it was, he would either take it or simply kill her.
But for now no simple human, or under class Vampire for that
matter, had better attempt to threaten his claim.
~*~
Gohei laughed evilly to himself as he got word of what he
had been waiting for.
"Not long now Kamiya, and revenge will be mine."
'Your blood will spill and the Dojo will be mine.'
~*~
Sano yawned as he watched Yahiko stir the morning rice, his
hair sticking in gravity defying manner that had prompted his nickname.
"How much longer Brat?"
"Would you rather cook this, Rooster head?" Yahiko
demanded, his eyes wandering to the pot of boiling soup.
"And why does she not cook it?" The silky voice
Sano had come to associate with the Female of the group, Megumi if he was
correct, asked.
"I like breathing." Yahiko retorted, "And the
only way her cooking could become worse is if she somehow managed to put wood
into it."
Sano turned, his normal cocky grin falling into place. The
Battousai scared the shit out of him, but this woman...there was something
about her that was different. "See that patch of dirt where nothing grows?
That is the leftovers from her last attempt at Miso."
Sano lurched forward as something heavy, Kaoru's fist he
suspected crashed into the back of his head. "It’s also where I am going
to bury you, Rooster head, if you don't shut up."
Kaoru was generally not a morning person.
Sano rubbed the back of his in annoyance more than pain, and
turned to his landlady. "Watch it Tanuki, that actually hurt."
Kaoru glared at him. "Next time it will be two
chopsticks I am going to shove..."
"Enough."
Kaoru pursed her lips in annoyance; her shoulders going back
in a furious posture, but her lips remained closed. Soon after Yahiko finished
the soup and it was to silence that Sano, Yahiko, and Kaoru ate.
Yahiko, in an attempt to ignore the Battousai and the freaky
lady with him, decided to question Kaoru on her activities for the day.
"I have to go teach at the Dojo across town."
Kaoru said simply, refusing to offer anything more than that with livid gold
gaze carefully watching them all.
It was quite after that until Kaoru had finished. Softly she
told Yahiko that she would do the dishes when she came back, and quickly the
young woman fled, her nimble feel quickly leading her out of the court yard.
The Battousai leaned back after she had left, carefully looking
over the two Vampires in front of him.
"Strength." He murmured, his eyes landing on Sano
before switching to Yahiko. "Fore sight." Battousai said finally
after looking at Yahiko for a while.
"Death." Sano said flatly.
"True." The Battousai said with a shrug, neither
bothered by it nor caring if anyone else was.
"Why did you bring Kaoru into this." Yahiko
question angrily.
The Battousai looked thoughtful. "She brought herself
into this."
"That did not give you the right to claim her." Sano
remarked his eyes hard. He may have been born with the gift of strength but he
was no match for the power in the red haired demon's frame.
"I always claim what is mine." He stood.
"Come we will see if we can find this Gohei and deal with him accordingly."
Neither man stood. "Or we can stay here and when Kaoru
comes back we can find out how many ways a bone can break before there are far
to many pieces for there to be broken again."
The Battousai smirked when he felt them move in behind him,
their Ki's glowing hot with anger.
A few minutes later Kaoru walked back into the Dojo, her
face furious. "Damn it!"
Kaoru leaned against the porch, her face blank even as a
single tear slide down her face. She had arrived at the Dojo only to find that
she was not wanted and had been told a few choice words on teaching killers
when her school taught otherwise.
Leaning against the porch Kaoru wrapped her long fingers
around the wood of the Bokken wondering how she was going to put enough food on
the table this week.
Sighing when a shadow leered over her, Kaoru looked up and
then jerked in surprise even as a large, meaty hand fell onto her shoulder.
"So, Kamiya, you’re finally alone."
Kaoru attempted to move, but her Bokken was ripped from her
hands and she found herself lifted upward by the back of her Gi, and shook.
"You not only will hand the Dojo over to me, but you
will sign everything you own over as well." Gohei told her, his face
twisted into a dark sneer.
Kaoru struggled furiously. "I will do no such
thing."
Gohei smirked evilly. "But there is no one here to
protect you from my men this time." He shifted to the side, allowing her
to see the six or seven filthy, travel stained men who where leering quite
furiously down at her.
"Men who have not seen a woman for some time, and none
as pretty as you are."
~*~
The Battousai frowned as felt a shift in the air, something
was wrong. Turning he left his companions behind easily as he melted into the
crowd.
"Where the hell is he going?" Yahiko hissed to the
woman beside him, his dislike of her bright in his voice.
"Batts marches to his own tune. We have our
orders." Megumi replied as she moved like silk along the streets. "I
suggest you do as he said, or it's the life of not only you but that human as
well."
Sano let out a low growl before stalking after her.
Yahiko frowned as something tickled in his mind before a
sharp image of Kaoru being thrown into someone crossed his vision.
"Kaoru's in trouble." Yahiko breathed before
turning toward the Dojo, only to be stopped by Megumi.
"We have our orders."
"Screw orders, Fox." Sano growled yanking her
after them. "When it comes to Kaoru who gives a shit."
~*~
Kaoru shut her eyes in an attempt to block the fact that she
was not only being held like a puppy, but she was facing down a pack of wolves
that wanted to devour her as well.
Rape was not uncommon for these times, and it would do her
no good to report it to the police, who would believe her anyway? The daughter
of a foreign woman who was already rumored to be a whore.
But was saving herself worth her father’s Dojo?
"Let her go."
The voice was furious, much angrier than she had heard it
yet, and it caused her to wonder.
"With pleasure." Gohei responded before tossing
her into the nearest man, Kaoru gasping for air as his putrid smell filled her
nose.
She rested only a second before she was forcefully pulled
away, pulled behind hair as dark as blood.
"Who do you think you are shrimp?" Gohei demanded
angrily.
Gohei started when the stranger tossed his bangs back to
show dark gold eyes that were burning in anger.
"Battousai!" Gohei breathed in surprise.
He smirked. "Good. Then you shall know why you died. No
one touches what is mine!"
Kaoru shuddered at his tone, her eyes wide as he unsheathed
the Katana at his hip.
"And make no mistake." The Battousai breathed
angrily, "She is mine."
'All of her."
~*~
A figure hooded and cloaked watched the scene with interest,
his dark red eyes bleeding with interest.
"Then shall you protect her from me as well, Battousai?
Will you get angry?"
