Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chances ( for now...) ❯ Days before better days ( Chapter 8 )

A/N: Well, so here is the next exciting issue of “Rurouni Kenshin: Second Chances”! ( Kami I wish I could come up with a title that's sounds less lame than this does...But I suppose it's a bit late to change it now, ne?) ( right, but just so you all know, this is the second version of this chapter I posted, nothing's changed, I just kept going where I stopped earlier!) Enjoy!!

 

 

^^^^^

 

She looked up at his face as he took her hand in his, her eyes already brimming with tears again.

“Anata....Sano is coming here... But...But there's something you need to know about him. Something you and Aoshi both need to know...”

 

There was no denying it. Now he really got worried. Somehow the look in her eyes seemed close to panick, extreme distress in any case. He took her hand and pulled her in for a hug. “Well, let's not waste any time then. Let's go back to Aoshi, and you can tell us what's wrong.” Deep, really deep inside him, it kind of stung to have Aoshi know something about her that he didn't already know. But as I said, really deep inside him.

 

As they walked back to their table, al sorts of horrible thoughts crossed Kaoru's mind. She kept looking up at Kenshin, her fear kept pulling at his heartstrings as she looked for something about him that would comfort. Although our poor baka-rurouni was too dense to figure out what exactly she saw, he did notice she seemed to find something that calmed her down. Temporarily.

Before too long they reached the table, where Aoshi was still sipping at his tea.

Nervously Kaoru sat down, she wasn't supposed to tell anyone what she was about to, and she had no idea how these two men were going to react.

Kenshin reached an arm around her and nodded, trying to encourage her. Not knowing what was effecting her this way was seriously getting to him.

Taking a deep breath she passed her hand over her face, tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ears.

“That was my brother on the phone, my brother-in-law.” She giggled a bit, “He has a rather explosive nature...”

Aoshi huffed into his tea and Kaoru sighed again.

“He is coming to Kyoto too. He wants to help find Misao-chan. Kenshin! You have to protect him! Please!” The sudden surfacing of her panic took Kenshin by surprise. He reached out for her face, totally ignoring Aoshi again and gently rubbed her cheeks. “Why koi, tell me what's going on.”

She covered one on his hands with her own and turned to the center of the table again.

“Sano...he'll be killed if he's spotted here. They'll kill him.” Still, this was not helping Kenshin, he was getting edgier by the second. He knew though that he shouldn't rush her at this point. So he did what he could and took her trembling hand between his own, gently rubbing it.

“Well...Sanosuke is an ex-gang member...” Slowly, things were starting to make sense to Kenshin, Aoshi still seemed preoccupied with his tea.

“He's only told us about it once, when he and Tae-nee-san were getting more serious. To let her know there were risks attached to him. Of course neither her nor me could care less. Since then he simply avoids the subject. What I do know though, is that he got involved with the Kyoto yakuza, and that he saw things he didn't want to be part of. I don't know what exactly...But eventually he managed to get out safely, with the help of his best friend. (<oooohh...guess who??!! ^,^>) I think he knows something about Takeda. He wouldn't tell me just now...He just said to stay here, and do nothing until he gets here.”

Now it was out there, she did feel better, the tears streaming down her face were beyond her caring at this point.

Kenshin smiled at her. The wheels in his mind were already turning, figuring out what all this could and would mean to their effort to keep Misao safe. The inside knowledge would be a great help, but although Kenshin hadn't known Sano for more than just about a day, he was pretty sure the tori-atama would be hard to stop if he got angry.

“We won't let anything happen to him koi, we promise, do we not Aoshi?” For a minute the older man looked up and glared at Kenshin.

“There, you see?”

Kaoru smiled and let herself be pulled into a loving hug.

Abruptly, Aoshi got up and moved to disappear again. Kenshin called his name.

“I have other things to do Himura unlike you.” With that, he was gone once more.

To Kenshin, who knew him, he sounded tired.

He lifted Kaoru's face to his.

“Koi, your entire family is infected with this `explosiveness' isn't it?”

 

 

^^^^^

 

Groaning she opened her eyes `Ah...My head is killing me...Eh?' The darkness around her made it seem as if her eyes were still closed. She tried shifting from the uncomfortable position she was in against something hard. Groaning as a fierce pain shot through her limbs she noticed she couldn't move. Her arms and legs were tied in front of her.

She tried hard to make out the dark shapes around her. The air around her was damp and musty. `I must be in some basement...'

Slowly as her vision cleared and the pounding in her head dimmed, she noticed she wasn't alone. There was a dark figure somewhere opposite her, she wished she could make an estimate of the size of the person. She hadn't taken all those martial arts lessons for nothing after all. Not that it would have done her any good, what with the ropes around her wrists and ankles.

As she looked around the room, she realised really was a basement. No windows, no fresh air, the smell was almost nauseating. Scrambling to stay upright against the mouldy wall, she noticed the emptiness in her stomach.

“Oi! What's the chance of getting some food down here?!” She realised belatedly that maybe one shouldn't start by insulting one's kidnappers, but now it was too late.

Dark laughter came from the dark figure. `Okay...so it's a guy...'

“You've got a big attitude for such a little girl!”

Without remembering the ropes tying her, she launched herself upwards.

“I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL!!!!I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I'M 18 YEARS OLD DAMMIT!!”

Another dark chuckle was interrupted by a knock on a door somewhere to her left.

The man she supposed was guarding her opened a hatch and a beam of light pierced the darkness around her, some of it his the dark man's face and she noticed hthe face was covered by a mask. `Well...that doesn't help any...Why did they take me?' Her head was starting to pound again and she let her self slide down the wall into a sitting position again.

The door opened after a while, her guard stepped out and someone else entered. When the door closed again, locking behind whoever just stepped in, she heard an audible sigh. Before too long, a small light flickered and shone into her face.

“Hey! Dim the light would you?!”

“Sorry.” Sitting on his knees in front of her was a young man, his eyes hidden by coloured glasses. She couldn't make out the exact colour of his hair but it was extremely light, even in the dim light of his flashlight. After studying her face he reached for her. `Oh god, now it starts!' She recoiled fearfully against her wall. The young man showed her a small knife. “Don't!”

“Huh?” The man looked at her with raised eyebrows. He followed her line of sight to his pocketknife and laughed silently.

“Oh no...I just wanted to free your hands, I've brought some food.”

As her mind wrapped itself around the fact this guy really wasn't intending to hurt her, she smiled and reached her arms forward. The young guy smiled slightly too but it didn't seem to reach beyond his mouth.

After he had cut her loose and she had wolfed down the food he had brought her, she sat back and rubbed her wrists absentmindedly. `I need to know why I'm here...they don't seem to want my body...don't see why? Do they really think I look like a little girl? That's just wrong! But-` Her thoughts were interrupted by the flashlight shining on her face again.

“You don't know why you're here...do you? Most of them never know...” His voice sounded sad, but she tried to ignore it. She wasn't going to let herself think about whatever he was thinking about.

“Iya! I'm getting out of here, wherever here is....Aoshi-sama will come for me!”

The light when out. She couldn't see anything in the new darkness now. As the door opened and fell into the lock again she curled into a ball.

 

`He will...'

 

 

^^^^^

 

 

Aoshi paused for a moment and wiped the sweat off his brow. This waiting was killing him. He looked back to his target and nearly smiled. It felt good to know the dummy was suffering too. He took a swig of water and breathed deeply before he went at it again. Everyone of his kicks and punches were painfully accurate. His footwork so tight it made the eyes of the other trainees at the kempo-dojo water. (kempo's the style used by Aoshi in combination with his kodachi, he taught Hannya and Misao kempo too)

As soon as the dummy's head was starting to collapse to the left he relaxed. Everytime something `upset' him, he would call on an old friend who held this dojo. An it worked like a charm.

After paying his respects to the beheaded straw doll by bowing curtly, he hit the showers.

Nothing felt better to his burning nerves than the fresh water washing away the stress and dirt of the last few days. Leaning his head against the cool tiles in front of him, he gave in to the warm water and let his thoughts run free for the moment. `I shouldn't have let this happen. Especially not to...' He turned the water cold before he turned it off all together. After quickly rubbing his hair dry he wrapped the moist towel around his waist as he made his way to his locker.

After getting dressed he paid his respects to the master of the dojo and left, praying to the kami that he wouldn't have to wait too long before he got to beat the crap out of the bastards that did this to his Misao. Of course, he wouldn't actually let himself think that, especially not the his Misao bit.

But he was pretty anxious to get his cellphone from his locker.(yes, I actually gave him a cellphone! He seems like the type of guy that would really need a cell-phone...I mean what's a control-freak without a cell, ne? *giggles*)

 

^^^^^

 

Kaoru and Kenshin had been doing all sorts of stuff already, well Kaoru did...It was already getting dark outside and she hadn't heard from Sano. Kenshin's hands were itching to take over, as she was unpacking their stuff, folding it again, and the folding it again. But he knew that this waiting, and the anxiety of how easy Sano would be to pick up at the station, were making it impossible for her to sit still. So he pretended to fold some shirts as he sat on the bed, thinking up some sort of plan and trying not to let Kaoru's struggling with his pants distract him. Of course it was only a matter of time until he couldn't stand her neurotic bustling about and yanked her onto the bed and into his arms.

“Just stop for a minute koi.” He whispered.

Kaoru drew a ragged breath and buried herself in his scent and warmth, somehow managing to keep the tears at bay.

“That's right, just let me help...Everything will be fine Kaoru, I promised didn't I?”

The words, the warmth, the small circles he was drawing over her back; it all calmed her nerves a lot more than fighting clothing anyway.

They sat like that for a while, Kenshin softly humming something to her as she breathed in his scent, letting the tiny vibration soothe her mind. `I should have had a teddy-bear like him when mom and dad passed...but I'm just glad he's here now.' Kenshin heard her content sigh and chuckled lightly.

“Are you feeling a better koi?”

Kaoru decided against pulling away, she was way too comfortable right where she was, so she just mumbled the affirmative against his chest.

Another chuckle.

“That's good, it is.”

She was about to laugh and tell him about the strange lapses in his speech-pattern that he himself never seemed to notice, when he suddenly shot upright.

Before she could ask anything, he had her mouth covered with his hand.

“Wait here.” He was out the door in an instant, leaving a spooked Kaoru behind in their room.

`Now wait just a minute!'

She marched to the door and made to shove it open. And then it didn't...open that is. It sure as hell creaked and fought to stay closed.

`Kenshin! BAKA! He must have barricaded it...Mou! When I get my hands on him, I...yeah alright, I'm probably just gonna wrap myself around him...But I can bash the mental picture I keep of him ne?!'

She sat down on the bed dejectedly.

“Kenshin no baka...”

 

“OROROOO....”

 

`That came from outside!'

Kaoru jumped up and ran to the window, roughly shoving the blinds out of her way.

The next she knew, she was hanging on to the window-sill, trying desperately to get some air back into her lungs while she tried to process a new mental image. Outside, Kenshin was covered by a large human form that was wearing a bucket on its head, which she had immediately recognized as her brother-in-law. The poor guy, her Kenshin that is, was struggling to stay upright and trying to coax the larger man into consciousness again.

Once she got her legs to respond again, she opened the window and caught his attention.

“Anata, I would love to help you carry the tori-atama in, but as you know...I can't get out of this room...”

All this, said in an eerily sweet voice.

`That was a bad choice, Himura...Kami, I'm never going to hear the end of this....Time for the all-purpose-way-out phrase!'

“Oro?!”

 

She giggled and closed the window as Kenshin sort of carried her brother inside. `Thank Kami that he's alright...so far...I'm sure the tori-atama will find some way to get himself into some sort of danger...but for now he's safe...' she looked at the clock, `...And probably very hungry!'

She giggled again as she heard Kenshin's exasperated sighs as he fumbled with whatever he had barricaded the door with. Finally the door gave way and her husband-to-be stumbled into the room. Sano was unceremoniously dropped onto the bed as Kenshin sank into a nearby chair. `He can't be unconscious from that little pat on the head can he? Not Sano...surely...'

 

Kaoru kissed his forehead and told him she'd fix some food for them in the kitchen.

 

When she returned, Sano was still pretending to be unconcious so she placed the tray of food on a table in the corner and walked over to stand in front of Kenshin with her back to Sano.

"Anata, Sano probably won't wake for some time, come and eat?"

 

Kenshin noticed the evil grin on her face as she pointed at Sano's face. 'Ah, works like a charm!'

The corners of the lanky man's mouth were twitching, as was his hand. Finally he gave up the act and opened his eyes, looking straight into the eyes of his 'little sister'.

While he was expecting something like a chair or small table to fly into his head, she gently kissed his cheek, catching both him and Kenshin by surprise.

"I'm glad you're safe Sano."

With a look of perplexion in his eyes, the tori-atama sat up and hugged her.

"Sorry for worrying ya jou-chan."

 

Kenshin smiled, this kind of family interaction never ceased to warm his heart, and he felt kind of pathetic for it. Somehow, he realized it wasn't very manly to go al warm and fuzzy over a brother hugging his little sister, but for someone who never had that kind of love...he couldn't help but feed on their warmth.

 

Sano stretched and sort of gravitated to the table on which the food was waiting. Kaoru giggled as she watched him. He looked at her with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Jou-chan...Did you..?"

Her slight giggling easily transformed into carefree laughter.

"I-I knew it, baka tori-atama! No I didn't cook, but if you keep this up, I might try later!"

Still laughing at the dissaproving look he carried, she ushered him to a seat and shoved a heap of food onto a plate in front of him.

"Eat!"

 

Kenshin walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Immediately she placed a hand over one of his and looked up at him. Smiling.

He thought of ways to keep her smiling like that forever, they all started with finding Misao. He lightly touched her nose with his and smiled back at her.

"I will call Aoshi to tell him we're ready. I will be right back."

"Un..just...don't close off the door, ne?" She giggled again.

Kenshin just scratched the back of his head helplessly, 'Does she realise how cute she is when she does that?', and left to find a phone.

 

^^^^^^

 

 

Aoshi was pacing around his apartment when the cellphone in his pocket finally started buzzing.(I don't think Aoshi would like loud ringing, ne?)

For good measure, he let it ring a couple of times before he picked it up.

 

"Yes."

 

"..."

 

"I will be there shortly."

 

And then he ended the call. Content. But from inside him, he couldn't see he was smiling slightly on the outside. He grabbed his trenchcoat and his keys and walked out. Purpose finally finding itself back into his life again.

Ten minutes later he was indeed sitting at 'his' table at the Aoiya. And to his extreme annoyance, he was sitting there alone. Now, normally he wouldn't mind, far from it. But he had things to do, places to be, a person waiting for him somewhere.

 

Finally he saw the remarkable girl from earlier, Kaoru, followed by someone he didn't know, but he expected that would be the brother, and last but not necessarily least, Kenshin.

The last looked a bit tired, but then again, Aoshi would have been long gone at the sight of the dynamics between Kaoru and her brother if he didn't need the information that had been promised.

At last, the group reached the table. Kenshin nodded at him, Kaoru smiled but the tall man just flopped into a seat and ran his hand through his hair before holding it out to shake Aoshi's hand.

"You must be Aoshi. Sagara Sanosuke, nice to meet ya."

The he waved at Okina for some sake.

Aoshi waited as Kaoru hit Sano upside the head and muttered an apology in his stead. More quietly both she and Kenshin slipped into their seats as Okina brought over their drinks.

 

 

Everyone except Kaoru poored some sake, she fully realized alcohol would not be a good idea for her...ever...

And then they sat and waited. All of them stared at an oblivious Sanosuke, even Okina, who was idly drying a dry plate as he stood behind a curtain.

Finally, after he had unceremoniously slammed yet another empty cup to the table and stretched himself out over two chairs, he seemed ready to speak. He straightened himself out and the stupid grin made way for a more serious look.

Glancing around the table Kaoru could practically see the anger radiating off of Aoshi in blue flames. (sorry, but red really wouldn't suit him ne?)

And then, at last, Sano spoke.

“My friends. We are in deep shit.”

Kaoru just about fell over, `There's an icebreaker if ever I heard one!...Baka...'.

By this time she didn't even want to look at Aoshi, but even Kenshin was getting annoyed, which was unusual to say the least.

“Yes Sano, we had reached that conclusion already. Would you care to expand on that?”

The sarcasm dripping from Kenshin's voice was completely new to Kaoru, but Sano remained unfazed.

“Believe me, the shit runs deeper then you think Kenshin.” He shook his head, trying to find words that wouldn't be too harsh, but he couldn't. “Takeda Kanryuu isn't just some bastard. He's a murderer. And a dirty one at that; he leaves all of his dirty work to his henchmen. But he likes to watch.” Sano reached for his sake again, bypassing the cup and going straight for the jug.

“But it gets worse, much worse. It's what he does to the women...

He just has them picked off the street when he sees something he likes. And then he just uses them, for whatever he wants. And when they're...spent, he just tosses `em. The sick bastard likes watching people suffer and die...slowly. Kuso.”

Sano couldn't stand it, he watched as Kaoru closed her eyes tightly against the tears. He knew what she was seeing, he saw it too. It was only the thought that what they both feared would be exactly what Kanryuu would do to Misao if Sano did his usual thing, storming-in-without-a-second-thought-and-knocking-out-anyone-who-stood-in-h is-way, that kept him in his seat. He couldn't help `accidentally' smashing the (now empty) jug though.

“I'm sorry Jou-chan, but you all need to know what we're up against, and we need to plan this out, `cause if something goes wrong this time, her life will be over. But she'll probably be safe for now, I mean, it's about you isn't it Shinomori? If he wants something from you he can't hurt her.”

No one answered his hopeful words. He suddenly realized how alike Aoshi and Kenshin were reacting. Both of them looking down at their feet without any clear expression on their faces. The difference being Kenshin's hand on Kaoru's. Sano yawned and got up.

“Look, I'm gonna get some info from some of my old friends tomorrow morning, but first I need some shut-eye.” He threw a look at Okina, who scurried to register another not-paying customer.

“I'll see ya tomorrow.”

Kaoru would have hit him upside the head for all the stupid things he had said in such a short time, but she just couldn't move, she couldn't remember ever being this scared in her life. Kenshin managed to nod, but that was it.

He sighed and went after the old guy that was supposed to show him to his room.

Faintly Kaoru heard Aoshi telling Kenshin he's gather information as well and he'd be back in the morning, before he left. Desperately she tried to concentrate on Kenshin or at least something other than the bloodied images of Misao she was seeing.

 

 

^^^^^^

 

Still, she stared in to the darkness. Her eyes were used to it by now, so she could discern the shapes op an old filing cabinet and an old broken chair in the far corner of the room.

For a while, after the young man had left her again Misao had been pacing the room, trying to find a way out. There was no way out, all she had found was a tattered old blanket. So now she was huddled up against the wall again, wrapped in the blanket.

Even it the state it was in, it was good enough to keep the cold and dampness of the room out of her bones. `I just wish Kaoru was here right now... ah, scratch that, I wish I was where Kaoru is right now.'

She sighed. `She always knows a way out of everything. Or better yet, I wish Aoshi-sama was here!'

Misao hated to admit it to herself, but she was scared. She didn't know what they wanted from her, so she had no way of bluffing her way out of here. And then there was the way the young man from earlier had spoken to her. He seemed afraid, but calm at the same time, as if he had seen so much horror he had gotten used to it.

She didn't ever really know how long she had been here, for all she knew she could have been unconscious for days.

Just as she realized she was crying, the door was slammed open and a sea of light poured into the room blinding her.

Before she knew it, she was suspended between two huge men and dragged out of the room.

They forced her up some stairs until they finally dropped her in a blindingly white room. In front of her, there was a tall thin man, dressed in a white suit, his back was turned to her.

At a wave of his hand, the two men beside her turned and left, closing the door behind themselves.

 

“Makimachi Misao, how kind of you to join us.”

 

Just the sound of the man's voice made her skin crawl, and that was before he turned around and showed her his face.

He advanced on her. She wasn't bound anymore, but backing away wasn't an option, she could tell that from the look in his eyes.

“Who are you?”

The man grinned.

“No need to sound so disgusted, Miss Makimachi. I'm the one that saved you from a killer.”

Misao was shocked. Surely, nobody she knew could be a killer, well apart from this man.

“What are you talking about? Who?”

Still he advanced, roughly grabbing her face between his long fingers. Bending over her until she could feel his breath on her face, he whispered a name to her, as she closed her eyes tightly.

“Shinomori Aoshi…”

If he hadn't had such a tight grip on her, she was sure her legs would have given out on her.

`He must be lying, it can't be, Aoshi wouldn't…'

“Who are you? Why did you kidnap me? What do you know about Aoshi-sama?”

As soon as he started laughing she realized she had made a mistake, she just didn't know what that mistake was exactly.

“My name is Takeda Kanryuu, let's just say I'm an old friend of Aoshi's. I do apologize for the way you were received, but I needed to get you out of there as soon as possible. You'll be shown to a decent room and bathroom in a moment. Please make yourself at home.”

Then he smiled, or grimaced, whatever you would call it.

Misao was glad he did, because every time he would smile, she'd realize just how much she didn't trust him. But at the same time, what if he wasn't lying about Aoshi. She decided that for now it would probably be best to pretend to believe him, and try to stay on his good side.

So she forced herself to bow at him and thank him for his kindness towards her.

Then someone came in, grabbing her gently but firmly by the arm and leading her to another room, as promised. She felt herself doubting everything around her. `What if what he said about Aoshi is true, that doesn't make him the good guy, right? I'm gonna get trough this for sure, I'll know the truth. And even if it's true about Aoshi, the past is the past. Kami, I want to get out of here, I need air. Maybe I could convince this Takeda-guy.'

And then, the door was locked.

`No, this is definitely not the good guy…' She sighed and sat down on the bed in front of her, At least the room had some light, even if it was just a lightbulb dangling from the ceiling. And she now had a small washbasin against the wall. It didn't really look inviting, but at least it was running water.

She walked around and tried planning her moves. The first thing she needed to do was to see that boy from earlier, he seemed to be kind enough.

`But I must be in another part of the building now, and this place is crawling with Takeda's people, from what I saw on the way up here.'

She spent hours thinking about a way to get to that boy without raising any suspicion. Suddenly the door opened again and a new man, one she hadn't seen yet, brought in a tray of food.

Immediately she stuffed her face, the small dinner she had earlier wasn't much, and she had no idea how long ago it was that she'd had it.

After swallowing her food, she turned to the new man who was waiting for her to finish beside the door. He was short, and seemed kind of sneaky, but in a kind sort of way.(Beshimi?)

“Where's the guy who brought me food yesterday? I think it was yesterday. Do you think it'd be possible for me to get a clock? I can't keep track of days like this.”

Uneasily the man looked behind him, checking there was no-one around to hear him socializing with a captive. And then he smiled. From his pocket he pulled an old fashioned pocket watch, which he handed to her.

“You've been here for about three days now. The last time you ate was yesterday. It was probably the kid, right? Young guy, white hair, sunglasses?”

She continued to eat, feeling justified now that she knew how many meals she had missed, but she nodded her answer.

“Well, he usually checks up on the young girls when they come in. Something about his sister or something. He only works downstairs, only comes up when he hears someone is unwell.”

She looked up at him, pleading for a more useful explanation, but he just picked up the empty tray, made an apologetic gesture and left again.

Misao was miffed, but pleased at the sametime.

`Yare yare, I think I ate too much at once…I might just get a serious stomach ache!'

 

^^^^^

 

When everyone had left, Kenshin and Kaoru were still sitting there. Kenshin was considering his options and trying to figure out what use he could possibly be to the mission. Sano had sheer willpower and Aoshi had been doing kenpo for as long as he could remember. But Kenshin just couldn't figure out what he could possibly add to that without just being in the way.

Kaoru just couldn't wrap her mind around the information she had received tonight. Kenshin had pulled her close to him for comfort a while ago, and it had worked, until she had realised the danger he and Aoshi and Sano would take upon themselves for Misao, the risk she ran of losing everything again, and she just started shivering again.

 

Okina passed by his small family shrine on his way back from Sano's temporary room. He smiled when he thought about his family's legends again.

`Tonight will be the night everything comes into play then, just as it was told.'

 

Five minutes later he showed up beside Kenshin.

“Himura, there is something that I need to give you, something that has been waiting for you for over two hundred years.”

Kaoru looked up, her curiosity overpowering her anxiety.

“Okina-san, you mean…?”

Okina smiled, he was glad his duty gave him a chance to relieve her pain for a moment. Kenshin seemed as confused as her, which made the old man feel the need to giggle.

“If you both will follow me, I will show you.”

 

Silently they did as he said, following their host through the hotel, up the stairs to the private area of the estate. Okina's home.

Once upstairs he led them into a small room, which seemed to be used as a small training hall. Okina lit a small oil-lamp in the centre of the room and disappeared with it into a corner, beckoning to Kenshin to come closer.

Curiosity drew him closer as the old man kneeled on the floor and pulled aside some pieces of the old tatami. As soon as Kenshin was near enough, Okina thrust the small light into Kenshin's hands and motioned for him to hold it so that he could see in the dark room.

The old man grinned as he skilfully pried one of the floorboards loose from the place it had been stuck in for decades. Finally he sat back, sighing contently as the light from the small oil-lamp poured over a long and intricately decorated chest.

The old man's eyes misted over as he uncovered his family treasure. After pulling it out of it's long-time hiding place and a lot of fumbling with the ancient lock, Okina pulled out a long, thin package, wrapped in an old piece of cloth.

He looked at it for a moment as Kaoru came up behind Kenshin, watching the events over his shoulder. Turning around to face them both, with a doting smile on his face, Okina pressed the object into Kenshin's hands.

“Here…I believe this is yours.”

 

Kenshin was still confused, it was actually getting worse instead of decreasing. The weight of the object seemed unbelievably familiar, but somehow he just couldn't completely grasp the situation. It was as if he couldn't remember his own name, feeling as if he should know, yet not knowing all the same.

All he could do was remove the tattered cloth.

He could feel Kaoru's breath hitching beside him, as what he had been looking for slammed right into him.

Okina nodded as he read the question in Kenshin's gaze.

Kaoru had completely missed their exchange. Her right hand moved forward without her command, reaching over his shoulder.

“The Sakabatou…” She dreamily stroked the leather wrapped around the hilt and the saya, gently, as if it was..something else.

She noticed Kenshin stare belatedly and blushed hotly as she withdrew her hand.

Kenshin chuckled, he felt strong again, all of a sudden, like a part of him he didn't realize he was missing had returned. Both in the way Kaoru looked at him and in the way she looked at the katana.

He looked at both of them, smiled as he swiftly stood up.

As the cloth slipped from his hand to the floor, Kaoru heard the distinct `click' of the guard releasing the blade from it's sheath. In the same instant where she felt her heart flutter with excitement at seeing Kenshin in his truest form, he was across the room.

Kaoru sat mesmerised by the flickering of the blade in the dim light of the oil-lamp and by the way she couldn't hear anything except the sound of the blade cutting the air and Kenshin's breath while he went through his form, performing each stance and movement perfectly. As if it was only yesterday he had last touched a katana.

She didn't even notice her own tears until Okina passed her a cloth to dry them and excused himself.

“I need to get these kodachi to Aoshi-san.” He pointed at another bundle that lay in the chest.

After nodding to Okina, she resumed her brand-new yet old hobby.

As she watched him dance with his sword, a perfect extension of his body, another part of him she loved, she wiped her eyes on the rag.

It smelled so musty it made her nose wrinkle up.

She held the cloth closer to the light to study it. It was a faded strip of silk. She couldn't really make it out by the dim light, but it seemed to have been blue, once upon a time. But it had been stained badly, rusty brown marks had ruined the fabric which she guessed must have been beautiful before it got so badly stained. Suddenly she realised something.

“Kenshin, look at this…”

Kenshin stopped in mid-stroke and calmly walked over to her. Kaoru smiled when she noticed the intensely blissful look on his face and his slightly laboured breathing. When he stood close enough, she held the fabric up to him. Kenshin took it into his hand, unsure of what she wanted him to do with it. But as he stood there, feeling the softness of the fabric, even throughout time, a bright smile lit up his face.

“Your indigo ribbon…”

She giggled when he reached around her and clumsily tied the ribbon in a bow around her ponytail.

The faded colour made no difference. Not to Kenshin, not to Kaoru. This simple piece of faded silk held their essence.

Her heart, and his blood. Somehow, it connected the past with the future, just reminding them of the power of their love.

Kaoru grew suddenly shy under his stare and reached up slightly to feel the soft fabric between her finger.

“I always kept it in a small box on my vanity, like a treasure. I could never really look at it, not after you…” She broke off, it annoyed her to no end how something that happened so long ago, and was so very much in the past could still hurt like it did.

“But to know it was there comforted me a little…”

Kenshin frowned. He hadn't missed the hurt in her words, and to this day, he couldn't understand how he could possibly have misread their situation so gravely. And then he realized.

“Shikashi…If you kept the ribbon close… I know I had my sakabatou with me when I…”, he just couldn't say it, `when I died.'

Kaoru joined him in his confusion, “How did your sakabatou become wrapped in my ribbon?”

He couldn't answer that. Or maybe…

Sitting down right next to her, he gently pulled the blade from it's sheath again.

“Look at this blade koi…”

She had enough knowledge of katana to be able to see that the blade was in perfect shape. It was obvious whoever had last touch it, had cared for it.

“The sakabatou has been in the care of someone who used it with passion, who cared for it, and who wanted to preserve it.” He smiled slightly.

“I can think of only one person who would know the blade, the ribbon and who would have such passion.”

He turned his face away from the blade and looked at her. Realisation was slowly creeping up on her.

“Of course…Yahiko-kun! He must have gone looking for you after…”, suddenly she started to giggle again. “Wow, we're starting to get a lot of holes in our conversation!”

Kenshin chuckled and sat back again. His had automatically went up to feel the silk again. Just that feeling brought all sorts of memories back.

Udoh Jineh. Battousai. He smiled when the moment where Kaoru had broken Jineh's Shin-no-Ippou, to keep him from reverting to his murderous alter ego. He understood that Jineh had been right that time, she was already his by then. Even if he didn't want to admit to that. But the thought of Battousai made him nervous. With this upcoming battle, and a katana in his hand again, would he be able to keep himself relatively sane? He knew that he would probably end up being the one to fight Kanryuu, and he knew he stood a good chance of returning to Kaoru as long as he had his sakabatou with him, he just didn't know

Kaoru was watching, of course. It was a funny sight, Kenshin sat in his usual bushi-position ( samurai actually isn't used in Japanese I think, but bushi is used in it's stead) With his one leg bent at the knee, the sakabatou resting against his shoulder. The only thing that seemed out of place now was his outfit. The jeans and blue shirt didn't really complement the ancient gestures.

But even though she was amused, she didn't miss the frown on his face, and she'd become quite good at guessing what he was thinking.

She moved away from his hand, even though she really liked it right where it was, and pulled the ribbon from her hair.

He looked up, suddenly uncertain of just about everything. `Why would she take off the ribbon, doesn't it mean as much to her as it does to me?'

Still smiling, she shook her head, trying to convince him not to worry as she got closer to him. Eventually she reached over and tied the ribbon securely around the saya of his katana.

“I trust you, anata. I know you'll come back. I just want you to keep this with you, so I'll know you're safe.”

Kenshin was speechless. He couldn't believe how she could always come up with a loving and delicate response to whatever his mind threw at him.

He just reached out and pulled her into his lap, folding her in his arms so the sakabatou now rested against her shoulder, and his head rested on hers.

Faintly they heard Okina return with, far far away…^

 

 

A/N: Right! I just thought I needed to work a bit more on this chapter instead of just leaving it as it was, so I just kept going.

I'm still gonna stick with another lemon in the next chapter though! I mean, these people are going to take risks, I know what I'd do if I were in Kaoru's shoes…Oh God…I wish I were in Kaoru's shoes!!!….*exasperated sigh*

Love!!