Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Blood, Death, and Love ❯ Rescue ( Chapter 6 )

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

Kenshin walked across the bridge, spotting the spilled tofy bucket. By the scent, he recognized the tofu bucket as Kaoru's.
'Where did she go?' he thought, following her trail. He saw more pairs of tracks- three of them- and recognized one more.
'Yahiko! What happened to those two?' he thought. He saw signs of a struggle, and then he saw two tracks- heavy tracks- indicating that the two leaving had been carrying something.
'Where were they taken?' he thought, following the tracks quickly. If his guess was right he didn't have a ton of time.

Kenshin crouched low in the bushes, seeing the sun go down out of the corner of his eye.
'Guards are on every door. If I hit one, the other can call for help and a dozen others will come rushing to their aid.' Kenshin thought. He lightly sniffed the air, reaching out with his mind.
'Some smell human, but they're all vampires. The human-smelling ones must be newbie's.' Kenshin smiled.
'This will go much easier...' he thought. He licked his lips in anticipation of a veritable feast.
'It may not be easy... but it will be well worth it.' This in mind, he snuck up on his first victim. The man didn't even have time to scream before dying. Kenshin turned to the guard's partner, who had noticed teh danger and was screaming for backup.
"Intruder! Get your lazy asses over here!" he yelled, drawing his sword. Kenshin just smirked and dodged as the man turned his attention to him. The clumsy strike went way past him and overbalanced the man. Kenshin promptly grabbed him and ripped open his throat, gulping down the blood as he dropped the body of the vampire- it was already fading into dust.
Dozens of vampires converged on him, swords drawn. Kenshin nonchalantly wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"So much for this being easy..." he muttered, drawing his own sword before attacking.

Tanishi's fangs had just barely scraped her skin before the door burst open.
"Tanishi-sama, we have an emergency. An intruder is attacking the guards and is killing each one without difficulty."
"The vampire guards?" Tanishi asked in disbelief, fangs shrinking back to normal canines as he put up his glamour again.
"We have no human guards, sir, so yes, the vampire guards!" Tanishi growled under his breath and stood up.
"Send Gasuke. Challenge the intruder to a one-on-one-"
Suddenly the man in the doorway choked, a sword protruding from his chest. He stared at it blankly before exploding into dust.
Kenshin stepped nonchalantly through the dust, quickly wiping what might ahve been blood from his chin.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru said, happy to see him. He didn't look at her, concentrating on Tanishi and Gasuke.
"Release Yahiko and Kaoru. Give us unhindered passage out, or..." He didn't have to speak his threat as he headed towards Tanishi. Tanishi gulped and hid behind Gasuke.
"One-on-one fight with Gasuke. If he wins we get to keep the broad and the brat. You win you get them back. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Kenshin said coldly. Kaoru stared at the back of his head- when did he get ahead of her?
'What's with that tone? I... I don't like it.' she thought. She ignored the shivers- not bad shivers, mind you- that that voice sent up her spine.

Yahiko watched in a strange sort of fascination and shock. He was on the wall opposite Kaoru, but more up teh wall. He could see Kenshin's face.
It was so cold... the glare was icy, and Yahiko thanked the gods that this man was on his side.
'But... weren't his eyes purple before?' he thought, staring into the man's amber orbs.

'Gasuke is sure to win. No way a pipsqueak like that could kill him.' Tanishi thought smugly. He felt himself being watched and looked up to see the new guy's eyes.
He gulped, feeling the need to scurry back a few more paces.
'His eyes... they're amber! Where have I seen those before... what was I told...' His eyes opened wide as he hit upon the information he needed.
'Oh. My. God...'
"Gasuke. Go for the kill from the start." Tanishi said. Gasuke looked at him in surprise.
"But, boss..." Tanishi glared at the vampire. He knew that Gasuke liked to play around with his foes, but there would be no room in this fight for that.
"Do it." Gasuke frowned, but nodded. He turned to face his opponent, getting ready to draw his sword.

Kenshin watched neutrally as his foe talked to a fat vampire. He dropped the glamour just enough to let his real eyes shine through- it tended to make his enemies nervous, very useful in battle.
The tall man turned to him, drawing his sword.
"Ready?" Kenshin asked coldly, a hint of boredom in his voice. The man didn't bother to answer, instead shooting straight at him, sword first. Kenshin neatly dodged, the man missing him by a hair. Kenshin swung his sword up and quickly decapitated the man. He fell to the ground, bursting into dust a minute later.
Kenshin turned to Tanishi. He slowly advanced on the retreating vampire. Tanishi held his hands up.
"Can we talk? I'll let the boy and the girl go if you spare my life."
"Who says I can't get them out myself?"
"I'll call for my guards-"
"There are no more guards." Kenshin said angrily. He flipped his sword up, holding it at Tanishi's throat. "New deal- you let them go now or I slit your throat."

Kaoru watched in what could only be described as fascination. Kenshin had single-handedly come to rescue her and Yahiko from a vampire-run Yakuza gang, something Sanosuke wouldn't have been able to do alone. Maybe even Aoshi wouldn't have been able to do this. They were both very strong men, but regular men couldn't stand against this many vampires, not unless they had been trained for years. (A/N: She doesn't know about the vampire thing, remember?)
She was amazed at how well he fought- it had only taken him a second to kill the best assassin of the Yakuza. He didn't seem to be having any problems with the leader, either.
Tanishi- fingers trembling, sword held steadily at his throat- walked towards her, going through keys. He found the right one and quickly opened the shackle around Kaoru's ankle. She drew her ankle up to her body, rubbing it to get some of the feeling back in her foot.
Tanishi and Kenshin quickly went over to Yahiko, and Tanishi undid Yahiko's chains. The boy slumped forward. Kenshin caught him, flicking his wrist slightly and decapitating a surprised Tanishi. He quickly sheathed his sword and replaced the glamour on his eyes.
"Yahiko, are you okay?" Kenshin asked, holding the boy gentley. Yahiko stood up quickly, not looking at Kenshin or Kaoru. Kaoru walked a few steps towards them, but stopped.
"I'm fine. Bye." Yahiko said, turning and making as if to leave. Kenshin lightly grabbed his arm.
"You should get your wounds treated. It's never wise to walk around with untreated injuries." Kenshin said. Yahiko yanked his arm away from Kenshin.
"It doesn't matter. There isn't a hospital that would treat me anyway." Yahiko replied bitterly.
"My sister could take care of your injuries." Kaoru said. Yahiko turned back to look at her in shock.
"You're a hunter." he said finally. Kaoru nodded. "I'm a half-vampire. Hunters just don't do things like taking care of half-vampires." He glanced at Kenshin out of the corner of his eye, trying to guage his reaction to the fact that he was a half-vampire. Kenshin just smiled at him.
"You should get your wounds treated. You'll be safe at the dojo." Kenshin said. Kenshin glanced at Kaoru. Kaoru nodded, knowing instinctively what he was asking.
"Would you like to stay at the dojo for a while? Live there?" Kenshin asked. Yahiko looked at him suspiciously.
"What do I have to do?"
"Chores." Kaoru said automatically. Yahiko looked at her dumbly.
"What kind of chores?"
"Well, Kenshin does the dishes and cooks, and he does the laundry... maybe you could do the floors?" Kaoru said, thinking. Yahiko looked at Kenshin incredulously.
"You do LAUNDRY?" he demanded. Kenshin nodded. Yahiko looked at him.
"A man that can take on a gang of vampires to rescue a half-vampire and a huntress does laundry in his spare time." Yahiko said.
"I take it that's a yes?" Kaoru said, smiling at Yahiko. Kenshin smiled.
"I guess." Yahiko said. The three left the building, heading home.

It was pitch-black when they arrived at the dojo.
"This is your home?" Yahiko asked. Kaoru nodded.
"I train vampire hunters here." Yahiko looked at her, surprised.
"You train them here? They any good?"
"They're strong." Kenshin replied. "They have to be, to fight full-vampires." Yahiko's smile stretched wider, but it was clear he was fighting to keep it on his face.
"Oh... yeah." he said. He looked at the house. "So, where do I sleep?" Kenshin and Kaoru looked at each other, realizing too late their dilemma. There were no rooms left- Kenshin had the last one.
Yahiko looked from one to the other and back again.
"Let me guess... no more rooms?" he said.
"I can sleep outside tonight and we can figure out what to do about it in the morning." Kenshin offered.
"Or Yahiko could sleep in my room and you could keep your room." Kaoru said. "It would be like having a little brother share my room."
"But-"
"No 'buts', Kenshin. We'll figure out everything tomorrow. In the meantime, Yahiko can share my room."

Okay, hope you liked it! I will try to update soon, but no promises!
What do you guys think of Yahiko? Was it a bit too cliched and boring?