“She killed the hag
“She killed the hag.”
“Master will be pleased.”
“He will be furious that she is in this state,” the growling, rough voice
hissed as he moved closer to both of the bodies. “We need to move her before
her mate arrives.”
The smaller man giggled and moved forward to pick up the master’s new toy.
“What about the other one?” He asked, looking at the girl who was crumpled some
distance away. They hadn’t expected the Empath to have a friend. “Hag tore her
up good. Someone might look for her.”
The taller man shrugged and turned. “Leave both the hag and the walker. We
have what we came for…”
~*~
He was moving so that the only thing he could feel was her.
The world had narrowed to a blur of grey color as he raced down the path of
Kyoto. He could still taste the lingering echo of her scream along the back of
his tongue, could still feel that all encompassing agony that had danced along
his nerves, then the silence.
Her scent was stronger and he paused at the beginning of an alley and took
in the scene, his breathing harsh as he looked. Two men, one reaching down to
pick his mate up, the other mocking the fallen form of Misao.
Kaoru had killed the one they referred to as hag, and they worked for
someone they called as Master. Locking those bits of information away, he drew
his sword. He wished he had time to make them burn and scream, but the blood
ran hot along the blade of his sword and for now, that was enough. As it was
their bodies were tossed around the little alley so that blood ran down the
walls. Humans would avoid this area for months, uncertain why, but terrified of
the death-ki that echoed in the darkness.
Pausing, he carefully looked around, making sure there was nothing alive
that could come out once he had his mate in his arms. Carefully,he brought his blade
to his lips and ran his tongue over the iron, tasting the blood of those he had
slaughtered. Someone or something had tainted these two. Flicking the blood
from his blade with an easily preformed chibur,he committed the taint to
memory, rolling it across his tongue before he walked to Kaoru’s limp form. His
gift easily broke down the taint and memorized it, dissolving its effect.
Her hair was feathered around her still form and he reached out and touched
her pale cheek, looking for some sign of her of her ki. Swearing, he
dropped to his knees, scanning her body for some physical injury. He was forced
to peel back one of her lids to her check her eyes. Her pupils were dilated so
wide her eyes appeared black with only the faintest ring of navy around the
edges.Her skin was so white that when he tore open the front of her Kimono,
looking for something, anything, her breast bindings appeared dark. Fine
tremors began to run down her slender frame,and he swore again at how clammy
her skin felt under his hands.
Switching view,a snarl tore from his throat at the sight of her.
Her ki was twisting into and around itself, as if its center had been
completely destroyed in an inward or outward push of power that had caught her
off balance. There was nothing to buffer her gift from her ki. Her
capacity for maintaining control was goneand if she didn’t find a way to gain
control, she would die. Kenshin gathered her unresponsive form up into his arms
and stood. He needed to get her back to the Akebeko where he could ward the
room and deal with this mess.
Turning he looked at the form that was Misao and took in her own ki.
Her core wasn’t as corrupted as Kaoru’s, but she wasn’t doing well. Baring his
teeth in frustration he tossed a shield over Misao’s limp form. It would
protect her from any outside influence until Aoshi got was able to trace the
beacon he placed in the shielding. Kenshin’s form blurred as he raced back to
his room with Kaoru in his arms’.
As he entered the Akebeko, he stilled as he caught sight of his Master’s
frame filling the doorframe of the kitchen. He hada familiar jug of sake in his
hand and he gave a disapproving snort before taking another swig. Giving a curt
tilt of his head towards Hiko, he located Aoshi’s shields as he hunted through
Kyoto for Misao. Gathering the information he wanted to send, he slammed into
Aoshi’s shields with no finesse and moved up the steps. Hiko was here, which
meant he would deal with the idiots downstairs. Someone might start asking
questions when they felt his shields go up and Hiko would be qualified to
ignore them.
Already he could feel her attempting to burrow deeper away from the pain and
he snarled as he slammed the shoji door shut. Jerking his wards into power he
walked over to the futon and kicked it open. Placing Kaoru onto the bedding he
stripped her of every stitch of clothing. Her pain was eating at his insides
and his instincts demanded that he hunt down the source of her pain and destroy
it.
He was the only one who was allowed to hurt her.
The smoldering rage built in his gut and churned. If she died, he would
unleash something on this city that hadn’t evenbeen dreamed of since the
Bakumatsu. His will melded with the already active wards until the room was
black with power, blocking any ki except his own. He could feel his
Master downstairs, but Hiko made no move to breach the power that was churning
through the upstairs room. It writhed like a living snake around the room and
he relaxed a bit.
Now the only thing Kaoru would have to contend with was him.
Kenshin kept a careful eye on his mate as he stripped off his bloody gi,
taking in her appearance. There was no sign of her fight on her skin.
Settlingnext to her limp body,he pulled his katana far enough from his sheath
to cut deep into his wrist. Dropping his sword next to the futon, he tilted her
head upwards and pressed her lips to his wrist. Blood pooled on her lips and
spilled down the skin her throat, only a little slipping into her mouth. He
snarled again, yet there was no reaction.
The pain was so hot she couldn’t breathe through it. It slammed through
her, her power leaving behind trails of paper thin slices that went deep.
Everything and she wanted to return to that cold, icy place. Gathering her
waning energy,she shoved at it, but it shoved back. Something else was churning
towards her, almost as hot as the other, burning the cuts and everything else
it touched, gathering the wild strands of power and forcing them back into a
single core. It hurt worse than whatever her body had been doing before.
She huddled in her mind and shivered at the cold. It hurt. Agony ripped
at her and she fled as the raging emotion caught up to her. Whimpering, she
skidded until she found that sweet darkness and curled up. The air was like
ice,but it seemed to slow whatever it was that was chasing her. Curling up
tightly, she shook, aware that something else was chasing her, stopping,
blocked by the raging fire and pain. Every time it got close the darkness swept
in and took her away. She welcomed the sweet chill, partly aware that it was as
dangerous as the burning heat, but it was welcoming. The darkness always tasted
so sweet.
Kenshin swore through gritted teeth as Kaoru’s body stopped shaking and went
limp against his fingers. The blood dribbling into her mouth wasn’t enough to
form a link and he snarled as his fingers closed on the bare skin of her upper
arms. “Kaoru,” he growled, searching for sign of her mental signature. It had
become easy to trace once she started reaching for him, but now he couldn’t locate
it and her gift bit and snapped at him as he searched. Pulling back with the
mental equivalent of burned fingers, he realized he was growling again.
~*~
Megumi finished placing the last of her herbs she would need
into her small bag. It had been one of the first and only things Kenshin had
bought her. He had grown tired of waiting for her to locate a herb and simply
shown up with it. It had come with a warning of course. Nowthat she had the
bag, she would have no excuses not to be prepared. Picking it up,she opened the
door and almost dropped the bag when she noticed the large frame of her
Master’s Lord watching her. Dropping her eyes she bowed her head.
“I see that you are still in one piece,” Hiko commented as he moved aside to
let her pass. “It amazes me that the idiot has managed to do something right.”
He walked away without another word, moving down the hall and disappearing
towards the kitchen. Megumi swallowed hard and shivered. It was amazing, the
amount of power he hid behind that arrogance and sake jar.
For one, the Battousai actually listened to him when he spoke. He might
bristle when the insults flew, but he paid attention. Megumi had no idea what
Hiko had done to earn her Master’s loyalty, but it was a strong, violent thing.
Shaking off her daze, she marched down the hall and slid it open, wrapping
her usual attitude around herself as a defense. She was thankful for it when
she saw Sano sitting across from Aoshi, both of them watching the girl lying
motionless between them.
“Move, roster head,” Megumi ordered. She could smell him. The pervasive
smell of his skin was distracting as he shifted over to allow her near her
patient. He smelled like sweat and musk and there was the faint herbal smell
from whatever soap he preferred. Biting the inside of her lip, she managed to
distract herself and began to examine Misao.
There were faint scrapes on her hands; an area that looked like it had been
healed from a bite wound. There were dark bruises on her buttocks and back from
where she had fallen but that was it. There wasn’t a single shred of evidence
that something else had happened. There were no physical wounds, nothing she
could heal. Her gift wasn’t in seeing someone inner ki so she didn’t
try. Setting back on her heels, she was suddenly aware of the beads of sweat
clinging to her temples and rolling down the back of her neck. She hadn’t
realized she had been concentrating that hard. “There is nothing I can do for
her.”
She didn’t look at Aoshi or Sano, just attempted to calm her own breathing
down. The noise of disbelief that came from the back of Sano’s throat hurt and
she tamped down on the feeling. “Her wounds are not physical.” Megumi said
firmly. “I can do nothing.”
She lifted her head and met Aoshi’s eyes. “Kaoru is going to be the only one
with a shot at putting her back together.” They were all silent as they
contemplated the dark that had been wrapped tightly around the room on the
second floor.
~*~
Kenshin stared at his hands and the thin threads of blood
pooling down his fingers and palms. His nails were also chipped and broken.
Ripping the bedroom furniture next door apart had relieved some of his temper
but the sight of his blood brought it raging again. Hissing,he twisted and
slammed his fist into the wall, watching it go through plaster and rice paper
walls. Snapping his teeth, he breathed deeply and walked back into his room.
His wall of power had extended to contain the entire upper floor and he stood
in the door way watching her naked chest rise and fall.
He wouldn’t let her take the easy way out.
Moving towards the futon,he settled himself on his knees in front of her;
brought his wrist to his mouth and tore a gash with his own teeth. Reaching
down, he braced her neck and lifted her limp body against his chest. “Kaoru you
must drink,” he snarled, pressing his bloodied wrist to her lips. There was no
movement.Her lips were pale, almost bloodless and the red of his blood dripping
down her skin was an almost violent contrast.
Something inside him shuddered and his body echoed the movements. His grasp
on her was slim and he could feel her crawling deeper inside herself. Besides
the raging storm of her ki and the backlash of what had happened to her,
there was nothing. If she continued to pull inside herself and let her ki
and gift battle with each other, she would die.
He would destroy everything in his path.
“Kaoru,” he rasped, his voice not quite his own. “You will feed.”
Nothing.
Burying his head into her hair he breathed in the scent of darkness rising
in her ki andshoved it back. Her body was cold in his arms as she fled deeper
inside whatever niche she had created. “Kaoru,” he breathed, taking in her
feel, her scent. “Please swallow little bird. If you go, I will destroy
everything before I find you again.”
Her lips stirred and he pressed his advantage. Ignoring the sting of her
raging emotions,he fiercely took control of the little nudge she had given him,
forcing her to drink. She took two small mouthfuls before she shuddered and her
gift came roaring out, forcing him back. He hissed between his teeth when he
discovered his blood had little effect besides stabilizing her ki. “You
will not do this to me again, Kaoru.” He warned her tightly. He needed to lower
her guards somehow….
Her instincts would be running on high and they were in tune to him.
“Kaoru you will come back to me,” he purred, using his fury as a weapon
to fight against the wall she was attempting to build between her gift and
herself, blocking him as well. He had to give her body something else to worry
about, divideits attention. Kaoru wasn’t in control anymore. That was fine.
Leaning down, he brushed a serious of kisses along her jaw, scrapinghis teeth
against her throat. As his tongue feathered out against the soft skin of her
throat, he felt her shift again.
“Oh no you don’t,” he snarled, letting his hands warm her skin. There was a
faint noise echoing from her throat and he tasted the skin around her
collarbones. Her breathing was ragged and her gift danced across his skin and
he was forced to pause breathing against her skin. Her gift sang in his ears,
tempting him to fall for his own trap and he snarled at it, curling into her
body and breathing her in with a hiss. He felt something flicker deep inside
her mind and he moved. Grabbing that bit of her, he held on and refused to let
go, attempting to locate where she had run. He traced it back to its source and
the surprise he felt had him rocketing back to the surface, hissing through
clenched teeth when he realized where his little bird was hiding.
His temper churned below the skin and he found that his chest was heaving
with temper. “How very interesting, little bird, that you should choose to hide
there…” settling back, he watched her from half-lidded eyes. “How very
interesting.”
The smell of salt was a stark counterpoint to the hot flame of ginger and
the darkness. The agony rolled back and forth until she thought she would die
with it.
Thensomething changed.
Something began to gather the bits of pain to it. That hurt more and she
struggled, thenthere was the brush of fangs somewhere on her body. She felt
that. She could hear a voice even as she struggled and she clung to the
darkness, refusing to be brought back. She didn’t want to go back. There was
nothing there but pain and death and hurt. Shoving herself to her knees,she
escaped the grasping tendrils of heat and fled into the darkness, her throat
raw for some reason. Had she been crying? Paper fine shards of hot wire were
chasing her, lashing at her legs and ankles and she screamed into the darkness.
The pain couldn’t follow and she trembled as she was left in the cool, sweet
darkness. It brushed against her like a lover and she wept.
Kenshin settled himself into Karou’s body. His legs wrapped around hers and
his nose settled in the hollow of her neck and shoulders, his tongue flicking
out to taste her pulse. Biting down he enjoyed a mouthful of her blood before
licking her wounds closed. “How very clever,” he purred in her ear as he
wrapped himself around her, containing her completely. “I am afraid your game is
up.”
He plunged into her shields, shattered them and chased her, welcoming the
darkness of his own gift and opening his mental eyes only when he had located
her. Looking around, he stood, recognizing the area she had hidden herself as
the little dojo in New Edo. “Tokyo,” he murmured, looking around for his mate.
“Come out and play, little bird.”
Kaoru was in the actual dojo, a broom heldfirmly in her hands, sweeping the
corners as if it would save the world. Kenshin watched her for long moments,
planning his attack. “Kaoru,” he crooned, using his voice as the weapon it was.
“Come here.”
She ignored him.
His temper was just below the skin and he did his best to control it.
However, his determination to take her back was razor sharp and she didn’t
stand a chance. He knew she would fight him, but he refused to allow her to
win. “Kaoru, come here.”
Her eyes flickered in his directionand something violent flared in there.
Something shifted in warning. “Kaoru, I am here to take you back.” He kept his
voice in that sensual purr. The broom hummed as he ducked and then rose up, his
eyebrows at his hairline as he stared at the woman in front of him.
Her next swipe was quicker than he gave her credit for being able to do in
real spaceand it drove into his hip painfully as he shifted. He reached down
and jerked the broom out of her hands, gritting his teeth and snarled when she
had another one in her hands.
“I am not going back with you,”She snapped in warning, her eyes flaring.
“Is that so?” His voice was hard now but her chin tilted upwards and she
snarled at him. If he wasn’t so furious with her, he would have thought her
little fangs and temper were cute. However, he could feel the time pressing
down on them and he didn’t have time to think about those things.
She glared at him. “I am quite happy here and you are getting dirt on my
floors. Get out.”
“I really don’t think so, little bird.” Kenshin replied tightly and she
swung at him again.
“Don’t call me that!” Kaoru snapped. “I am not yours.”
He snorted in disbelief. “Oh, I think you are.”
“Is that all this is to you?” Kaoru demanded suddenly, her eyes weary. “I am
a possession.” Her mouth went hard. “I will not go back somewhere where I am
only a possession and nothing more.” She grasped her broom between knuckles that
were white. “I won’t.”
Kenshin stared at her for long moments. “Is that what you think?”He asked
finally, moving forward, unconcerned about the broom. “I wouldn’t chase a mere
possession, Kaoru. You’remine. Perhaps it’s time I taught you what that means.”
She backed up a step before she caught herself and shifted out of his path,
the broom still held firmly in her hands. “I don’t need to be taught anything,
you bastard. You have made things perfectly clear. You’re just here because of
what will happen if I die.”
“Have you thought about what will happen to the others if you die little
bird?” Kenshin asked smoothly. “Because the darkness I will unleash on Kyoto,
Tokyoand all of Japan will be difficult to stop. Perhaps Shishou couldstop
me, but he would have to catch me early; because I will rip this country apart.
Not because you are a possession, Kaoru, but because you are mine.”
“Is there so much of a difference?” Kaoru snapped right back, her eyes hard.
Kenshin stopped moving and watched her for a long moment before smiling.
“Oh yes,” he told her wickedly. “You belong to me. You’re my mate, Kaoru. I
fight for you. I will fight your battles.” He shrugged. “I won’t let you go.”
She bristled. “I won’t be…”
Her back hit the wall behind her and she found Kenshin’s mouth pressing
against hers hard. She struggled against him and he bit her lip. He pulled back
and looked into her eyes and snarled. “I. Will. Not. Lose. You.” His
fangs were biting into his own bottom lip and he didn’t particularly care. “Do
you understand? You will come back with me.” He shook her lightly,
letting his desperation turn his voice raw. “I will not go back without you.”
He didn’t give her time to argue with him. He ignored the startled,
wide-eyed expression in her dark eyes. Instead, he wrapped himself firmly
around and her and jerked them both out of the dreamscape. She was caught off
balance and even as she screamed her protest, he managed to dislodge her and
they both crashed back into their bodies with agonized howls. Kenshin buried himself
against her and fought to hang on, ignoring the way her gift and ki
raged against him. Fiercely, he used the blood he had given her and forced it
into a cocoon around her mental self, wrapping her in fire and blood and heat,
refusing to give her the escape back to wherever she had gone. He held on until
his own ki was bruised and battered.
A sobbing moan was the first sign that it had worked.
He crooned in her ear absently. She made a faint, mewling noise of disbelief
and then she buried her face in his shoulder, screaming. Her nails bit into his
back and he had to fight to hold her to his body. Her body writhed and twisted
against his and tears dripped down her face. He set his teeth and held her.
“Ken…” she struggled. “Let go…” she sobbed and her gift roared to life.
Kenshin kept his teeth clenched as he fought, keeping in her place and setting
up the walls that would keep her kiand gift separated so they would stop
eating at each other.
“I will not,” he rasped furiously. He met her eyes and stared at the tears
that were welling and falling down her pale cheeks. Leaning forward he kissed
her cheeks dry, something shifting inside him at the taste of her tears. “I
won’t let you go, not now, not ever. You’re mine, little Kaoruand I will keep
you.” He made a low, purring noise in the back of his throat when she arched
again as her ki and gift fought each other. “It will be alright,” he
crooned.
“It hurts,” she whimpered, closing her eyes. “Just let me go.”
Kenshin breathed deeply before shaking hishead. “I cannot. I am your mate
Kaoru. You are mine,” he licked at the remains of his blood from her chin and
throat“You are mine.” He looked up at her and met her eyes squarely. “You will
not leave me.”
She shuddered as he shifted them, his gift finally managing to rebuild the
wall between her gift and ki.She would be sore and hurting but the
sensationsher ki was inflicting would end. He had her settled so that
she could rest against his chest and she fell limp against him, worn out.
“Why did you come for me?” Kaoru asked weakly.
Kenshin tangled his fingers in her hair and considered her words for a long
time. “Because I can’t let you go. If you look at yourself you will find that
you can’t let me go either, Kaoru.” He felt her stiffen in his arms. “I maynot
like the idea, but we are bound together.”
“I wonder,” Kenshin tiredly questioned her bent head when she refused to
answer. “If you are worth all the trouble you bring me?” The weary note in his
voice softened his words and his arms held her firmly. His head bent to breathe
in the scent of her hair and he felt his shields contract tightly around the
room.
She gave a rasping noise that might have been her protest, but he felt her
stiffen in his arms as another tweak of agony flared in her veins. “It hurts,”
she whispered against his throat. “I want it to stop.”
“I know.” There was something in his tone and then she was being settled
firmly against his shoulder and the blankets were tucked around her. He sighed
tiredly and she felt his power wrap around her, the cold darkness. Her body
clung to his, searching for any sort of reprieve, and the lips pressed against
her temple curved.
“Ah,” he murmured. Darkness crashed over her and Kaoru whimpered in relief
as she welcomed that darkness, melting into it.
Kenshin moodily watched her melt against him. He wasn’t sure who he was more
upset with, himself or her. His instincts demanded that he cuddle and protect
her from everything, himself included. Hissing through his teeth he examined
her mentally, taking in her lax ki as it recovered. Her body had given
into his push easily, but he would need his own rest. He had spent a lot of
energyrebuilding her core and he felt it pulling at him. He could feel the
occupants of the Aoiya lurking outside the doors, but he ignored them. Settling
himself down for his own rest, he forced the wards to even higher ranges and
then slept.
~*~
Aoshi sat next to Misao’s futon and watched her breathe.Her
breath was hitching painfully again and her skin was like ice. He had no idea
what she could be going through, but the faint trail of tears that leaked from
the corner of her eyes suggested it was painful. Leaning forward,he wiped at
the corner of her eyes and ignored the furious snarls and howls coming from upstairs.
He had to believe Himura would bring Kaoru back. It was Misao’s only choice.
A chill ran across his skin as the thought about the repercussions of losing
Kaoru.
The shoji door snapped open and Aoshi raised his eyes to meet Hiko’s
arrogant stare.
“How many hours has it been since my Baka Deshi brought her in,” heasked
carelessly, as if he wasn’t counting each moment. Aoshi lowered his eyes back
down to Misao’s pale face. “Three hours,”he said flatly.
"Where is the other one?" Hiko asked irritably.
"He is hunting Enishi." Aoshi said flately. "He found a lead
and Sano came back to report."
The sound of Hiko taking a long pull from his jug was the only sound in the
room.
“You know what will happen if she dies,” Hiko warned, his eyes also on the
pale girl’sface. “It is his right to claim vengeance for her death. I will not
stop him.”
Aoshi’s head snapped up at that. “Even if…”
Hiko gave a grim smile. “You mean the bloodbath he will create? He will
level Kyoto and if he doesn’t feel that she has been repaid enough, then he
will move on. I will give him this wretched place of human waste. If he tries
to go past here I will stop him. But this city will burn.” He shrugged. “It’s
not worth saving.” His eyes lingered to the little woman. “I hope it does not
come to that.”
Aoshi shook his head. “It would be beyond vengeance, it would be a blood
bath. The chaos and destruction would be going beyond anything we could stop.”
Hiko downed more of the sake. “Then let us hope it does not come to that,
Shinomori.”
Both men turned and looked towards the stairs leading to Kenshin’s room,
when the sounds of furniture being smashed had stilled only moments before.
Aoshi’s mouth thinned into a straight line as the raging death-ki
continued to fill the Akebeko.
~*~
Kaoru woke in fuzzy stages. The first thing she noticed was
that her gift wasn’t being held back by anything. The shields she and Misao had
spent so long working to build where gone and the shields Kenshin had given her
were missing. Working herself to a more coherent state she realized she was
curled around her mate rather tightly. Swallowing hard, she tried to shake some
of the cobwebs out of her brain. She was also very naked. Looking up she found
a pair of glittering amber eyes watching her. He had made no move to
disentangle them from their position and even as he watched her, made no move
to remove his hand from her hip. His other was bracing his head as he watched
her. One of her arms was tossed over his waist, the other had slipped under his
and her fingers were tangled in his hair.
She just stared at him, uncertain as to what he was waiting for her to say.
His hair was cool between her fingers and she wasn’t even aware she was
twisting her fingers in it nervously until the scrape of his calloused thumb
moved against her skin, even as a scarlet brow rose up towards his hair-line.
“What happened?” Kaoru finally managed, surprised at how soft her voice was.
There was something glittering fiercely behind his eyes that she hadn’t seen
before.
“You did something very stupid,” he purred, his hand tightening at her hip.
She frowned, ignoring the bite in his words and attempted to remember what
happened. “Whatever you did, it caused you gift to turn against you and it
almost destroyed you.” His tone of voice informed her that he was not amused by
having to save her. Again.
Kaoru continued to twist his hair between her fingers. “I killed that woman,
didn’t I?” Kaoru whispered. She looked up at Kenshin. “She…she was…” she
swallowed. Kenshin didn’t say anything. “She knew my mother’s name and she
referred to someone as her Master.” Her words were soft but Kenshin didn’t say
anything for long moments and then she suddenly found herself on her back.
“Master?” Kenshin asked, bracing his weight on his forearms as he pinned her
body to the mattress. “Did she give a name?”
Kaoru shook her head, forcing herself not to think how close he was or how
he smelled. For some reason she could taste him on her tongue and she swallowed
again. “No, she just said…she said that she was surprised that I had been able
to stay hidden so long.” She frowned and attempted to remember. “She called me
Kagami’s brat…”
He breathed for long moments before his breath hissed between his teeth.
“You can’t remember anything else?” When she shook her head he moodily shifted
one hand so it was buried in the long strands of her hair. “You did quite a
number on yourself during that little fight, Kaoru.”
Kaoru frowned. “She was an empath…something about her was familiar…”
Kenshin gave a careless shrug as he sat up. “Gifts tend to run through
family blood,” he told her absently, his eyes scanning her form with a wicked
twist to his lips. Kaoru flushed dark red as she realized she had forgotten she
was wearing nothing, and at the reaction her body had at his expression. “We
will discuss an appropriate punishment later,” he told her wickedly, his eyes
burning over her body. “However, Aoshi brought Misao back last night.”
Kaoru frowned and sat up, ignoring the urge to pull him back down onto the
futon. “Is she alright?” Kaoru asked as she pulled the blanket up and looked
over at him.
Kenshin shrugged. “She is a mess. You might be able to fix the damage. If
not, we should probably kill her.” Not a flicker of emotion showed in his eyes
but Kaoru thought she might have caught something in his ki.
Kaoru swallowed. “Why are my shields gone?”
Kenshin frowned and shrugged. Reaching down, he caught her wrist and brought
it to his lips, sinking his teeth in. The move was unexpected and Kaoru yelped
in surprise as he swallowed a few times before dragging his tongue against the
marks. Kaoru started again when his teeth nipped lightly at her finger tips
before he let her hand drop.
“You gift has shifted,” he told her finally. “It’s…changed. Whatever you
did, little bird, has caused it to become more. How interesting.” His fangs
flashed briefly. “We shall have to test it.” He sighed and pulled her up and
Kaoru hung onto the blanket with white-knuckled fingers. “Get dressed. Aoshi
will be waiting for you outside. You won’t need me to put her back together.”
He gave her a sharp look. “I will be hunting for blood. You’ve been asleep for
two days.”
Two days? Had he actually stayed with her that entire time? Kaoru swallowed
as the shields dropped. Her gift was still lazy beneath her skin but he appeared
not to notice. The sounds and smells of the Aoiya crashed over her but her gift
ignored them. Instead she felt Misao’s battered ki instead and she
scrambled into a kimono,absently tying off her obi. She would need to figure
out what was going with her gift after she put Misao back together.
Or at least she hoped she could.
~*~
Soujiro fingered the sword at his hip. Kikuichimonji
Norimune was light at his side and eager to be unleashed on those who were
moving about. The air tasted of human stench and waste and he wanted to remove
it. Stroking the handle he willed his gift into some sort of control. His own
darkness was different than his master’s. He had lived as the son of a human
whore, having been taken in when he was a baby.
His thumb continued to run over the smooth hilt.
There wasn’t anything of that family left.
He was a weapon now.
His life had started with Shishio Makoto as his Master. He was the first man
to give him a weapon and teach him how to kill with it. Shishio had taught him
that humans were weak and vampires were strong. He had taught him that he was
gifted and talented and that humans were creatures that were to be used as a
life source and nothing else.
He had never forgotten that lesson.
It had started with the death of those who had treated him as nothing more
than a whores-son. His mother had been converted, impregnated and then abandoned.
She had shunned her nature and his birth had cost her her life. As a child, he
had struggled with his cravings for blood. Each beating, each taunt, had
stirred something dark inside him and it had latched onto Shishio-sama’s words
greedily.
Under Shishio he had learned Shukuchi and made something of himself.
Dedicated himself to Shishio’s cause. He had learned how to be useful, how to
grasp an ideal and hold onto it. Shishio had give him Nagasone Kotetsu
to use against the weak humans. Shishio had fed that little shred of darkness
until it became what it was today. Blood satisfied it but it craved the blood
of his Master’s enemies more. His own needs came second to such a drive.
Shishio-sama’s goals had been clear. The Meiji government ruled over those
who were weak and worthless. It deserved to fall, sending humans into chaos
giving the vampires the edge over their worthlesslives. They would be unchecked
and unstoppable once the Meiji government fell, sending humankind back to the
darkness of before the Bakumatsu, when vampires cut their fangs on human death.
He had lived for Shishio’s goals.
They had never expected to draw the attention of Battousai.
Sourjiohad been slightly perturbed when Shishio had told him at first that
the Battousai was there enemy. The Bakumatsu had been his training ground. He
had learned how to kill and kill well. There was very little he could not do
with his katana and there had been none to stand against him. There were rumors
that he was a heir of someone even more powerful but Seijuro Hiko had not been
seen in centuries and had never taken on a apprentice.
He could still remember his first impression of the Battousai.
He had been shorter than Sourjio had first expected but the sheer power that
radiated off his form had made up for it. Hair the color of rich fire had
fallen around his shoulders, tamed only by the samurai top knot. His eyes had
been hot and dragged you in and held you without even an attempt. His movements
had been deliberate and precise, never fighting with more strength or speed
than needed.
He had not expected him to be so damn fast.
He had shut down his Shukuchi long before he had gotten it to full
strength and then shattered Nagasone Kotetsu with a burst of power that
had staggered him. Battousai had not only fought with his sword and his skill
but his ki alone was staggering. He attacked you on every plane of the
battle field and destroyed you from the inside out before he took your sword
and your life.
He had not expected his life to be spared.
Shishio had died in a flaming glory that had been looked upon with contempt
by those who had taken Shishio’sempire down. Battousai had easily sliced
through the ideals that Soujiro had cherished for most of his young life and
then given him something new. Battousai looked at things differently than
Shishio. His contempt for humans was possibly even more than Shisho-sama’s yet
he chose a different path.
Let them run themselves into the ground. Allow the Meiji government to flourish.
They would take away their swords and their ability to sense ki. It would make
them weak. Guns and other weapons could be overcome. Humans were weak and their
own weaknesses would become harder to hide as they let go of the old ways.
Then the vampire would rule the darkness.
Battousai had no need to attack the main strength of humans when he so
easily undermined their desire to live. He had spent the ten years after the
Bakumatsu feeding his own legend and when he was taken in. Battousai had made him
his apprentice. It was a fine line that he had walked but he trod it well. He
had a new purpose.
Most of their future rested on the fact that the humans remained oblivious
to the growing danger. They carefully fed the rumors and the darkness when they
chose and underminded those who knew how to fight against them. Hunters were
easily handled. Humans were their own worst enemy.
Battousai had allowed Soujrio to perfect Tenbu no Sai Niyoru Ken and
then taught him to improve his Battōjutsu until he was perfect. His
own legend had risen among his kind. He was no longer a simple weapon for
Shishio-sama to use for his ideals. He had been given tools to make his own decisions
and to give his loyalty. He had accepted his place among those Battousai had
gathered and found his place in the shadows. The weapon the Battousai used in
the darkness.
The differences between him and Shishio had slowly become more and more
apparent the longer he worked for him. Shishio had been determined to give the
humans a piece of his hell. As a young vampire, he had been caught by humans
and tortured so that his gift had erupted around him. It had gone out of
control and he had almost died from the wounds his ki had inflicted on
himself. Soujiro had never seen Shishio without his bandages but he had heard
from Yumi, Shishio’s mate, that they were horrible.
Shishio wanted to return the humans to the darkness and trap them in their
own hell.
Battousai didn’t particularly care for humankind. He considered them weak
but preferred to let them trap themselves in their own hells and leave them to
be. Occasionally, they would do something that would require him to stick his
katana in to straighten it out, but it was rare and he rarely put the effort
into place.
Then the strike had come.
The assault against Seijuro had not even come close to killing him but it
had lit a spark that had turned into a blaze. Sourjiro had been a part of the
unit that had slowly torn the vampire population in Kyoto apart. There had been
blood and retribution he had not seen since the Bakumatsu.
It was then that he had gained a new respect for the Oniwabanshu.
He knew that it still stuck in Battousai’s throat that the main instigator
had never been caught. They had searched hard yet nothing had ever given them a
lead. Japan had been torn apart as he searched and then he had disappeared for
ten years, hunting.
Nothing had given them any clue until Battousai’s volatile little mate had
been attacked.
Soujiro needed more proof, of course, but there was something here that
reminded him of the man who had disappeared into the shadows of his defeat. He
had had Enishi in his mind for as along as he had controlled him and there had
been something there that had stank of the man they had never even caught a
glimpse of. The mysterious master. Which was why he was in the middle of his
current hunt.
He would bring Enishi to Battousai and let him and Shinomori tear the
information from his fragile mind. He would discover why Battousai’s mate was
so important and how Enishi was involved.
Soujiro looked up as his informant moved forward and he easily began to
follow.
He wouldn’t get away twice.
