Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Blood, Death, and Love ❯ Yahiko ( Chapter 5 )

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

Damnit! I'm sorry folks, my computer messed up. Well, actually, it was operator error... I have a Naruto fic of a similar name, and I just updated that and my compute didn't change the screen it was on.

Kenshin stretched. It had been hours since he had undertaken the monumental task of cleaning all the laundry in the Kamiya house. He was finally done.
He turned his gaze to the dojo itself- the training hall. Kaoru had taken a few possible vampire hunters in there a few hours earlier. He dumped the dirty water out of the basin and quickly dried it off. He took the items into teh house and put them in the kitchen before going to get Kaoru.
She was just finishing up with her new students.
"That's all for today. I'll see you tomorrow." she said to them, then glanced at Kenshin. he was in the doorway of the dojo.
"Hello, Kaoru-dono. Do you have the list of grocery items we need?" he asked her. She shook her head.
"No- but can I just come with you? That way you won't have to carry everything..." Kaoru reasoned. Kenshin nodded. he moved aside so that the students could get by him.
"I'll take a quick bath and then we can go." Kaoru said, smiling at him.
"I can heat up the bath water for you." he said.
"That would be great, thanks." she said, passing by him to get to her room.

Kenshin lightly blew on the fire through a hollow tube. The fire flared up.
'She shouldn't take that long.' he thought. She had been in there few about ten minutes already.
"Is it warm enough, Kaoru-dono?" he called.
"It's perfect, Kenshin." she said. She stood. "I'm done. I'll meet you at the front gate."
Kenshin stopped blowing on the fire.
"Aa, Kaoru-dono." he said, putting the flames out and then walking away to wait for her at the gate.

Kaoru dried herself off and then slipped on her kimono. It was a light blue one this time, with small purple jasmine embroidered on it. An indigo obi wrapped around her waist, with an indigo ribbon to match.
She carefully drained the water from the tub before exiting the bathhouse, a small spring in her step.

"Are you ready, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked. He gave her a quick once over- too fast for her to see.
"Yes. Let's go." she said, smiling. The two left, Kaoru locking the door behind them.

They didn't take long to arrive in town. Kaoru directed Kenshin to what seemed to be every store in the marketplace. They needed soy sauce, miso, rice, daikon, fish, and just about everything else. Kenshin ended up carrying most of it- all the heavy things- while Kaoru carried the light things like the daikon radish. Everything paid for, they left.
"Thank you so much, Kenshin." Kaoru said. "That must be very heavy..."
"It's not a problem." Kenshin said. He meant it too- he was far stronger than he appeared.
Suddenly, something slammed into his back, knocking him forward. Kenshin turned his head to glance at the cause of this as he fell forward, subtley arranging the food items so that nothing would be ruined as it fell.
It was a small boy. That was all Kenshin saw before the boy moved, running. Kaoru dropped the daikon radish and tackled the small kid before he got too far.
"Kenshin, this is a pickpocket! This is yours, right?" She held up a small black pouch, jangling with coins. He nodded, picking himself up.
The boy struggled to get away from Kaoru, but it was futile.
"Let go of me, busu!" he said, trying to get away as Kaoru stood up. She brought the boy with her, holding onto his wrists.
"Who are you calling 'busu' you little brat?!" she demanded, growling at him.
"You, bus-!"
"You shouldn't steal from people, young one." Kenshin said softly, interrupting the argument. "However, if you need it so much..." He motioned for Kaoru to release the boy. She did, hesitantly. The boy glared at her, rubbing his arists where she had grabbed him. Kenshin extended his money pouch to the boy.
"Here. Take it." Kenshin said, smiling at the small kid. The boy looked suspicious, glaring at Kenshin.
"Is this some sort of trick?" he asked. Kenshin shook his head.
"No trick, young one. Since you need money so badly-"
"Don't call me young one!" the kid snapped peevishly. "I'm not a kid!" Kenshin nodded looking into the kids eyes.
'A half-vampire. I should have known. Poor thing was probably abandoned at birth.' Most half-vampire's were left to fend for themselves after a full vampire and a human gave birth to it.
"I'm sorry. I don't know your name, how else am I supposed to call you?" The boy glared at Kenshin.
"Yeah right. You'd probably go right to the police and tell them who I am." Kenshin shook his head.
"They won't hear anything from either of us." he said, indicating himself and Kaoru. "You need this badly." He handed his money to the kid. The kid just stared at it, shocked.
"Goodbye. Please, try to make an honest living. Someone like you shouldn't just be wandering around the streets." Kenshin said. He turned and picked up the groceries, making sure to get Kaoru's daikon radish as well.
"Wha..." Kaoru said, having watched the whole exchange silently. He handed her the radish.
"Let's go." he said, when he felt something hit his head. He turned, confused as he saw his money pouch hit teh ground beside him.
"I'm not one for charity." the boy said. "Keep your stupid money."
"Young one-" Kenshin said, surprised.
"I'm not 'young one'!"
"Then can you tell us your name?" Kaoru asked, bending down to pick up Kenshin's money.
"Myojin Yahiko." Yahiko said, glaring at the both of them. "But I returned your money so you don't have to report me to the police."
"We won't." Kenshin assured him. "You have a good soul." he added wisely. Yahiko looked up at him in shock.
"I hope to see you again." Kenshin said, turning and walking. Kaoru followed, leaving Yahiko to stare after them.

Yahiko walked along the riverside, hours later. He was still thinking about what that man had said earlier.
'I have a good soul? Yeah, right.' he thought bitterly. 'Why did my mom and dad abandon me, then sell me to the Yakuza to pay off their debts if I have a 'good soul'?!'
A shadow fell over him. He glanced over to tell the person off, but his words died in his throat.
There stood Gasuke, the main assassin of the Yakuza group that Yahiko belonged to. Another assassin stood with him, for company, Yahiko guessed.
"Do you have the dough?" Gasuke asked roughly. Yahiko glared before looking away.
"No. I'm done with you guys." he said.
"You don't honestly believe that, do you? You have your mommy and daddy's debts to pay off. They gave us you, for the rest of your life. Once you're our dog, you are for life." the other guy said.
"I don't care." Yahiko said, He turned his back to the gangsters. "I'm sick of all this crap you make me do."
He never even saw the blade as Gasuke lost his temper and swung teh flat of teh blade down on top of Yahiko's head, knocking him out.

Kaoru sighed as she walked towards the dojo. She had forgotten tofu for tonights dinner and Kenshin was no where to be found.
She glanced out over the river as she crossed the bridge. She stopped suddenly.
The boy they had met earlier- Yahiko- was talking to soem people she recognized as Yakuza. Suddenly, he turned his back on them and the taller Yakuza member knocked him out. She almost gasped, dropping the tofu and running to the end of the bridge. She raced down the hill towards the men, unsure of what she would do, but she knew she had to stop this.
"What do you think you are doing? Let him go!" she said, narrowing her eyes at the two men.
The taller one glanced back at her, disdain written on his features.
"Who're you and why do we care?" he asked. he gave her a slow once over, eyes lingering on certain areas of her body. "Then again..."
Kaoru glared at him, shivering with disgust.
"Let the boy go." she said.
"Look, his parents sold him to us- he's our property. The stupid brat didn't hand in any money today, so we have to teach him a lesson." the shorter man said. He grinned broadly at her, blatantly staring at her body. "Do you need a lesson too?"
"Stop staring at me." Kaoru said, backing up a step. "And let Yahiko go. He's just a boy. Surely you can spare-" She never got to finish as the tallert man- obviously impatient with all this- knocked her out. She fell forward, falling into the shorter man's arms. He let out a low 'oof!' as he caught her.
"She's heavier than she looks." he said.
"Let's go."

Kenshin sat by the window, slightly worried about Kaoru. It had been an hour and she had not returned.
'Something doesn't feel right about this...' he thought, standing up. He slid his sword into the waistband of his hakama, exiting out the front door.
'Something bad happened to her.' he thought, walking towards town.

Kaoru opened her eyes, sitting up and putting a hand to her head.
"Oww..." she muttered.
"Awake?" A voice asked her. She turned to look at the source of the noise.
There was Yahiko, all beaten up. One eye was almost swollen shut and a few bruises marred his face. Blood leaked from a few cuts. Chains crossed his chest and arms, binding him to the wall.
She gasped.
"Yahiko?" she asked. The figure gave a nod.
"They told me you came after me." Kaoru nodded, then tried to move towards him. Something pulled at her ankle, preventing her from going more than a foot closer to the poor boy. She glanced back at her foot.
A thin chain attached to the wall and the shackle around her ankle prevented her from moving. She pulled her foot forward, testing the chain. It held steady.
"It's useless." A deep voice said from her right. She glanced over.
There was the man that had kidnapped them both. She glared at him.
"Why did you bring me here? When I get out of here-"
"You won't." the man said. He smiled wide at her. "People captured by this Yakuza never leave. Not human, anyway..." Kaoru's eyes widened and she instinctively scurried back, away from the tall man.
"Vampire." she whispered, only now realizing the full gravity of the situation.
"Hunter." A new voice said evenly. A small, fat, pimply man stepped out from behind the first man. "Excuse my guard- he is Gasuke and I am Tanishi, leader of the Yakuza." He studied her intently, moving closer to her. He grabbed her chin and looked at her face closely. "You have a pretty face. Wouldn't want it marred by time or scarred by all the fights you put yourself in." Kaoru grimaced and tried to pull back, but the vampire held her in a firm grip. She settled for glaring at the disgusting vampire holding her.
"Just one question before you die- why did you go to such lengths to protect this brat? So, sure, you saw Gasuke knock him out, but why stick your neck out like that?"
"He's just a boy. How could you be so cruel to a child?" Kaoru demanded. Tanishi looked at her in surprise, then threw back his head and laughed.
"That's a good one, lady. A 'child'? He's been alive at least as long as you have." Kaoru looked at Yahiko in askance and shock, a realization that she didn't want to make dawning on her.
"What?" she choked out, still looking at Yahiko. He turned his head to the side, not looking at her.
"He's just a half-vampire brat. Weak little thing, but he was all his parents had to give- they didn't feel like giving up a few servents. Abandoned him as soon as he could walk- a crawling brat does no good for the Yakuza. He'll work for us for the rest of his life."
"Half... half vampire...?" Kaoru asked.
"So? You have a problem with that, hunter?" Yahiko asked, saying the last word as if it were a curse. Kaoru would have flinched from his tone if it hadn't been for the vampire holding her face.
"Now..." Tanishi said, turning his wrist so that Kaoru's neck was exposed. He practically drooled at the sight- a vampire hunter's neck was exposed, a female huntress. He let his glamour drop as he leaned down to bite her neck.
Kaoru closed her eyes.
'Why do I always seem to end up in these situations?' Kaoru thought. 'Kenshin, where are you?'