Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Blood, Death, and Love ❯ Dojo ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Thanks to Mermaid Ninja, Vathara, and 00001 for reviewing! I'm dedicating this to you!

Kaoru almost sighed in relief as she opened the gate to her dojo. By now, the vampire's blood had thankfully dried.
"We're here." she said, smiling at the man beside her. He looked around, clearly surprised.
"This is your dojo? It seems very spacious for one person..." Kaoru shook her head.
"It's not just me. It's my sisters and these two guys. One's a freeloader and the other is about as feeling as an ice cube, but I can't just turn them out. They help out around here too." Kenshin nodded thoughtfully at her words.
"You have a kind heart." he said. 'Would her blood taste as sweet as she is?' he thought idley. Surprisingly, she blushed.
"Well... uh..." she said, but was saved from having to answer by a loud call.
"Kaoru!" A small girl with a long braid hugged Kaoru tightly. "I've been waiting for you all night! And... who's he?" the girl asked, looked at Kenshin, puzzled.
"Misao! You should get some sleep-and don't yell, everyone else probably already went to sleep." Kaoru said, blush fading from her cheeks.
"So, who is he?" Misao asked, nudging her sister with an elbow and grinning knowingly at Kaoru. Kaoru promptly blushed and faced her sister, opening her mouth to yell. Kenshin quickly interveaned.
"I am Himura Kenshin. Your sister kindly offered to take me in for the night." Both girls looked at Kenshin.
"Why did she..." Misao said, then took a closer look at her sister. "Why are you all covered in blood?"
"Kenshin here saved me from a vampire. He doesn't have a place to stay, so I invited him here." Misao looked at Kenshin, surprise written on her features.
"He-"
"Yes, he knew what a vampire was." Misao carefully looked Kenshin over.
"Are you a vampire hun-" She was interrupted by a loud yawn.
"We'll discuss this in the morning." Kaoru said. "We're all tired." She looked down at herself, at all the dried blood, and groaned.
'This will be such a pain to wash out tomorrow.' she thought.
"Okay." Misao said, yawning again. "Good night." she turned and walked away. "Nice to meet you, Kenshin."
"You too, Misao-dono." Kenshin said, smiling and nodding politely at the girl's retreating back. Kaoru tugged on his sleeve.
"I'll show you where you can sleep. We don't have a lot of rooms, and the only one left is next to mine. I hope you don't mind." Kaoru said, walking towards the house.
"I do not mind as long as you do not, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin said. Kaoru just nodded, showing him his room before going to hers and changing into her sleeping yukata. She went over to a small jug of water she kept in the corner of the room and poured some into the basin that came with it. She checked out her reflection before sighing and wetting the edge of her blood-stained gi. She carefully wiped away the blood, making sure to get most of it before collapsing onto her futon.
She was asleep as her head hit the pillow, exhausted from her day.

Kenshin surveyed the room. Clean, but bare.
'Good.' he thought. He pulled his sword out of the waistband of his hakama, laying it against the wall. He settled himself down right next to it, sitting up as well.
'I should go to sleep- I have to wake up before the others do.' He did not know if they could sense ki, but he knew that his own was blatantly demonic and powerful. A novice could pick it up.
He carefully listened to the breathing of the girl in the next room. It was soon deep and even- an indicator that she was asleep. With a relieved sigh, he let go of his mental shields.
His appearence went from warm and peaceful to cold an distant. His hair- which had been a sort of muted red- was now a deep blood-red color. His eyes went from normal violet to deep amber. His face became slightly more scuplted, losing some of the roundedness they had when he used glamour. His mouth stretched back to accomodate his fangs, a permanent snarl etched on his face.
He felt his restrained power rush back to him, a force so great he let out a breath as it slammed back into him.
He relaxed against the wall. When asleep, he couldn't hold the glamour or the shields, and it was easier for him to remove the glamour when he went to sleep after everyone in the vincinity and then wake up before them to restore the glamour and sheilds.
Vampires- when strong enough- could use glamour to change their appearence. They could also sheild their power so that no one knew what they were. Many could use glamour, but only a few had enough power to shield their true strength. Vampire's that were strong enough to get noticed but too weak to shield themselves often ended up fighting as much as they could and wasting their energy so that it couldn't be sensed.
Kenshin spread his power out in a mental net, curious as to who the others were. Close to him were two other females- one was Misao, and the other a woman he did not recognize. He got a shock when he 'read' their mental patterns.
'A small trace of vampire blood. A grandparent, possibly. Maybe a half-vampire parent.' Half-vampires weren't uncommon these days. Tenatively, he scanned Kaoru's mental patterns.
'She's clean.' he thought. Sometimes vampire blood chose to manifest itself in the offspring of children of vampires, but sometimes it skipped certain people for no reason, and sometimes it lay dormant and wasn't awakened.
Another shock came when he scanned the last two residents of the dojo.
'Vampires? Not weak ones, either.' he thought. Did Kaoru not realize who she invited into her dojo, or did she not care?
'I'll sleep now and figure them out later.' he thought, slightly fatigued. That took quite a bit of energy- energy he was running low on.
'I'll have to find a vampire tomorrow or take a little from a few humans.' he thought, falling asleep.

Kenshin woke with the sun the next morning. He usually did as he only needed a little sleep each day.
'No one else should be awake so early.' he thought, stretching and standing. He picked up his katana and slid it into his waistband. Now would be the best time to hunt- he had at least an hour before anyone else awoke, if the mental patterns of the others were any indication.
Silently, he slipped out the door, putting temporary shields up and a weak glamour around himself. He got to the gate and suddenly bolted towards town, not wasting any time.

Kenshin soon arrived in town and stuck to the shadows, doing his best to be unobserved. He cast his mind around, searching for a vampire.
He was in luck. A vampire was close by- one with some experiance. Not a newbie, like the one last night had been. Kenshin smirked. This vampire was also hunting, but hunting for a human victim.
'I have to make this quick.' he thought, striding quickly in the direction of the vampire. It wasn't even a block away, and he soon found it.
He snuck up behind it. The stupid thing didn't even realize he was there until Kenshin grabbed him and pulled him back into the shadows.
The vampire tried biting Kenshin's hand, but Kenshin barely noticed, tilting the creatures head to the side and dropping the glamour as he sunk his fangs deep into the vampire's throat. The vampire gagged and tried to struggle away, but Kenshin held him steady. Soon, he was done. He let the body drop, watching it crumble into dust.
He wiped his mouth carefully on the inside of his gi. It wouldn't do for anyone to see the stains.
'It may be harder to get a vampire's blood, but well worth it.' Kenshin thought. It hadn't even been a half hour since he had left the dojo, and he was already done. He sprinted back to the dojo.

A woman with long silky hair awoke. She yawned, covering her mouth. She sat up, shaking her head to help wake up.
'I have to make breakfast- kaoru will ruin it if she gets up first.' she thought, standing and getting dressed. She flipped her long hair over her shoulder and made her way to the kitchen.
She paused outside the kitchen door, sniffing the air delicately. She smelled miso and vegetables- was someone already awake?
"Hello?" she asked, knocking on the door, then opening it without waiting for an answer.
The smell of miso and vegetables got stronger when she opened the door. A pot of soup was bubbling as a man with red hair tended to it. He turned to smile at her.
"Hello." he said, bowing slightly in her direction.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes at the intruder. He held his hands up in a placating gesture.
"Kaoru-dono invited me here last night. I woke up early and decided to make breakfast for everyone." With that explanation, Kenshin turned back to the soup and stirred it, testing the flavor before removing the pot from the fire.
"And why should I believe you?" she asked, still glaring at the man.
"Oi, Megitsune, what's all the talking about? Have you started breakfast yet?" a sleepy voice asked. A tall man with brown hair that stood straight up appeared behind the woman. She turned her glare on the new arrival.
"Is that all you ever think about, tori atama? Food?" she demanded.
"Maybe." the man replied jokingly. He glanced over the woman's shoulder and narrowed his eyes at Kenshin.
"Who's he?" Kenshin smiled at them, seemingly unconcerned with the glares.
"Himura Kenshin. Would you like some soup?" he offered.

Please review! I know, it was a bit rushed, but I honestly didn't know what to do with this chappie. If anyone has any suggestions...