Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Steps Of Courage ❯ On the Edge ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply. Always.

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Chapter 17

Enizu stood still with rage. He looked as though he had been slapped, and his face was red enough for that to be true.

But Enizu had not been physically slapped. He had just been beaten by his own tactics. How could it have happened to him? To him? He should have known better than to trust a woman. She would pay.

“You bitch!” he cried, rage not even coming close to the emotion he felt then.

Naruku wished she could ignore his furious words, but they rang stark through the air, powerful and hate-filled. His shouting continued with a long string of uncalled for remarks and inappropriate words—all aimed at her and the unconscious man who lay next to her.

Enizu was obviously put-off by the fact that she was not delighting over the death of Battousai with him. In fact, he was most furious at the fact that she had stopped Kenshin’s death. That had not been part of his plan. He had used her—why wasn’t it working out for him? Why, suddenly, was she unwilling to be tossed around like a prop in his grand scheme?

It hadn’t been conscious on her part. She had not simply thought, I must defy Enizu now. In fact, even after intercepting Enizu’s fatal blow to Kenshin, she had not thought of going against the man she had once loved. All that mattered was that Kenshin was safe, no matter by her hand.

But soon Enizu’s screams and threats seeped into her mind, and she was brought back, once again, to reality, realizing now that she had resisted the laws she had always lived by. Give in to his every whim. He takes care of you, you must do everything you can to obey him. In one moment, Enizu had lost every shackle he’d ever had on Naruku. She was beginning to see past the person he was to the deeds he was doing. It made her angry.

Angry that she had been in the dark for so long, when Enizu’s motives had always been apparent. Her own hands had flicked off the light. Now it was on again, and she could see.

“You wench! Have you forgotten everything I did for your benefit? You double-crossed me and took the enemy’s side,” his words burned holes in her skin. “Damn you, you untrustworthy, dirty lowlife wh—”

Enizu’s words got the better of her and she sat up and raised her head to him, keeping an arm on Kenshin’s torso. “Is there anything else you’d like to say, Enizu?” her voice was cold and steady, saying quite clearly that she was disregarding every one of his words.

Sweat pored from his face as he screamed out every ounce of anger he had toward her. “You unfaithful slut! Why, I could kill you for your treachery! How dare you challenge my power over you?”

Naruku felt the words bite into her, but at the same time she felt stronger. Not weaker as his cruelty usually made her. She would not be stepped on, and for once Enizu would hear her words. “Treachery? Unfaithfulness? Where do you get off calling me these things?” she let out an uncharacteristically cold, dry laugh. “It sounds rather sanctimonious from you, who has done nothing but exploit me. You pushed me into Kenshin’s arms, and when I found comfort there you ripped everything I had to shreds. Is that it?”

For the first time, Naruku’s words got a reaction out of the older man. She knew it was wrong, but she relished the anger that poured out of him. His fury fueled her in some kind of twisted self-satisfaction.

Enizu sneered his reply. “How is it my fault, my darling, if you were so weak to fall into comfort with that scum? What does that make you?”

Naruku twitched involuntarily but said nothing. Enizu was not done yet, and neither was she. They would each push each other farther and farther over the edge of a boiling cauldron. Tipping precariously on the rim, stepping around jets of steam and taking pleasure as the other dipped closer and closer inside.

And right then, Enizu knew Naruku already had one toe in the water. “If he ever wanted you at all, it was only for the enjoyments a woman brings in the night. Were you really so desperate as to betray me for a heartless, baneful, sick-minded killer?”

Naruku felt her muscles lurch. Her anger flooded into his veins like venom. Her once clear, jade eyes now resembled acid, bitter and unforgiving. She moved forward again, this time with every intention to go against Enizu. She unsheathed her sword and leaped at him, her sword pressing into his throat. She had never wanted to hurt someone like she did then.

“What does that make you?” she mocked him. “Never—say that—about Kenshin! What gives you the right? You don’t know him! You never will, Enizu! All you know is your—your fucking self-victory! You would never understand anything that is not in your best interest! Kenshin has more heart that you ever will! You deserve to die right here for all that you’ve done—you prepossessed bastard!” Her sword was pressed close to his throat, cutting off the supply of air. He choked and sputtered beneath her clawing wildly to be let free. In a predictably chauvinistic fashion, he had not entertained the possibility of Naruku physically attacking him. He was caught off-guard by her successful attempt and was now pretty much at her mercy.

Naruku’s own anger ate away her mind, allowing no room for thoughts. She could only see what she wanted. Right then, it was to hurt Enizu in such a way she had never wanted to hurt someone before. He deserved to be destroyed for everything—saying such contemptuous lies about Kenshin, using her, hurting her, hurting Kenshin, keeping her away from everything she loved.

She didn’t love Enizu. She hated everything about him. His shallow grudge, his arrant bitterness, his blind heartlessness, his manipulating, perverse mind…everything down to his straight brown hair and deceitful black eyes.

Naruku increased the pressure on Enizu’s throat. She could kill him this way, she knew. Crush his windpipe. Was it her intention? She did not let up, or even regard Enizu’s shriek of pain. Her face was warped with hatred, her mind wild and savage. The wound on her arm bled freely under the strain Naruku was putting on it. She didn’t notice the pain. She pressed harder onto Enizu’s throat, hoping to hear the snapping of his neck or the crack oh his windpipe. It was all she wanted in that moment.

Suddenly, Naruku found herself thrown in the opposite direction, freeing Enizu from her malignant clutches. She winced as she landed hard on her back and skidded another three feet before being sprawled out on the floor. In a second she was on her feet, her senses returning. How had Enizu…?

He hadn’t. Naruku realized at once she had purposefully thrown herself backwards, away from what she was so close to. Murder. Her subconscious had found a way to stop the anger and hatred that had gotten the better of her. Ultimately, she had been able to stop herself from committing the crime her father had died protecting her from. Did she really stop herself from killing, when she had been so close to doing just that?

Though all of her strength she had ever known, all of her abilities had been focused on that one moment of anger, but something had stopped her.

How long had it been since Kenshin killed? Ten years? Was this how he stopped himself from being that close. Naruku was smart enough to know that Kenshin’s oath had been tested. She also knew he had never faltered. Come close to it, maybe. Had he ever been as close as she was?

It was likely. But his oath had stopped him. Just words, as they were, but somehow they had brought upon ten years of peace within Kenshin.

She knew it was the same for her. There was an unspoken oath deep inside her, so strong it could bring her back from the grasp of her hidden self. The part of her that fed on her angers and destroyed. The part of Naruku that could destroy her.

But a belief so deeply set in stone had saved her.

And consequentially saved another’s life.

Enizu was back on his feet, a smirk in place. Naruku had weakened against him. No matter how much she claimed to hate him, and no matter how much she wanted to be free of him. She was weakened.

“Battousai awakes,” he said simply to the girl in front of him.

Unsurprisingly, she turned her eyes on Kenshin’s comatose body. She found that he had opened his eyes and was slowly sitting up, though shaking with the effort. Naruku fought an urge to rush to him, and instead kept a trained eye on Enizu. If he did anything…would she be able to stop it?

Kenshin quickly surveyed his own condition. Surprisingly, he found himself without any major wounds. How had that happened? The last thing he had seen was Enizu’s sword coming down on him. Where exactly were the stab wounds?

A soft aroma floated around him. Something that didn’t belong in a blood-ravaged battleground. The scent of ginger.

“Naruku…” he raised his eyes to her and Enizu, the both of them saying words that his fuzzy mind could hardly comprehend.

“…think you can get away with trying to kill me now?” Enizu was saying, a hint of amusement in his voice. “The man who raised you? The man you’ve known all your life? Everything I did, I did for you, you selfish whore!”

“You’re such a liar,” Naruku spat viperously. “How can you even suggest that? You only used me for your own benefit. Worked out very well for you, didn’t it? Well let me tell you, it doesn’t matter that I believed you to be my guardian, my lover, even, because you are nothing to me anymore.”

Enizu’s blue eyes narrowed. He moved forward as if to strike her, but she held her ground. Instead, he reached out and stroked a strand of her dusty red hair. She flinched at the light touch.

“It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?” he formed the words carefully so she heard every nuance. “You never were good at lying.”

Eyes wide, Naruku backed away from him. Her next words were barely a whisper, but spoken with force and sincerity. “I hate you.”

Enizu’s own eyes bulged at this scathing proclamation. He moved forward and struck her face, sending her toppling backwards. She only sat there, wincing and clutching the smarting wound as he advanced, drawing sword slowly. The scraping sound of the sword coming out of the sheath made Naruku’s heart drum faster in her chest. Her eyes became even wider, but she did not move to protect herself. She wasn’t sure if it was fear, resignation or just the fact that she had given up that glued her to the spot.

If I had been bolder, could I have done something to prevent my death? It was chilling how easily the thought came to her. My death… how could she think such things? Maybe…but…would that have meant the death of Kenshin? Maybe this is my courage; to die in place of him. Enizu’s sword loomed above her. It was unsettlingly familiar to his attack on Kenshin. But Kenshin…Kenshin deserves a life past now. What have I done? Is this what Ideserve? She bowed her head. A quick slash and it would have been all over. This is what the kami had in mind for me. I must accept it, if that is what’s meant. Apparently not, though, as she heard the chiming of swords and miraculously felt nothing. No sword ripping through her flesh, no splatter of her own blood. Just simply stillness.

Naruku soon opened her eyes and found that a distinctly shaped shadow covering her. She raised her eyes to find Kenshin standing above her, his upright form towering above her as she sat. One arm, holding the sakabatou, was raised, blocking Enizu’s oncoming attack.

Enizu struck again, taking small surprise that Kenshin had reinitiated their fight. Kenshin blocked this blow, too, this time turning slightly so the corners of his eyes were focused on Naruku’s astonished face.

“Naruku-dono,” Kenshin said with some difficulty. His voice was rougher than it usually would have been. Naruku wasn’t sure if that was from the strain or the battle mindset Kenshin was slowly melding into. “I ask that you leave, so you won’t be hurt.”

Naruku was indignant from the moment the words left his lips. “No!” She wasn’t going to take any chances.

Kenshin blocked another attack and used enough force to throw Enizu off balance. He turned toward Naruku and gave her a piercing glare, straight in the eye. “What did you say?”

Naruku cleared her head of the faintness she was starting to feel from being under such a penetrating gaze. She faltered only slightly as she repeated, “I said no! I’m not leaving. I don’t care what you say, I’m as much a part of this as you are!”

Kenshin didn’t have time to respond as Enizu stepped forward, regaining balance and sending a round of fast-paced blows at Kenshin as Naruku watched with bleak eyes. Enizu cackled wickedly. “Perhaps I should do us all a favor and rid you of this unwanted trash!” he clipped his sword so it was aiming at Naruku, and quickly descended upon her.

Naruku hated to admit it, but she could only watch and grab clumsily at her sword as fear took over her body. But as soon as she had a firm grasp on the hilt, Enizu was on the ground again, Kenshin giving his sword a small spin. He stared down at Enizu with menacing amber eyes.

“If you lay a hand on her—if you even come near her, I will kill you, make no mistake. There is no mercy in my heart for someone like you,” he said in a feral, deadly tone. He turned on Naruku, his demeanor softening slightly, though the cold amber stare of the hitokiri was still intact. “This is why you must leave. We can’t risk you being in danger right now. There is too much at stake.”

Her formerly wide eyes narrowed in a look of determination, and Kenshin was quick to notice there was no hint of anger in that expression of hers. “Like you life, Kenshin? Is that it? There are worse things than death. I’m not leaving.”

Kenshin tried not to let his frustration show. “Wise words,” he said. “But right now it is your life on the line. I know neither of us would want to loose that.”

Naruku opened her mouth immediately to reply, not sure which words would tumble out. Unfortunately before she could emit any noise, Enizu went in for another attack that narrowly missed Kenshin. The red-haired swordsman dodged swiftly and jabbed the hilt of his sword between two of Enizu’s ribs.

The girl, stubborn as she was, still did not budge. She knew she was distracting Kenshin, she knew that she was hindering his fight. She didn’t move.

Enizu charged again at Kenshin, who swung his sword as swiftly as he could, a large red gash appearing on Enizu’s arm.

Naruku bit back a gasp. Kenshin’s sakabatou—flipped? The blade pointing out—ready to kill. “This is why I must stay,” she told him, echoing his earlier words. “If you are left alone to fight, this battle can only end two ways,” she held up both slender index fingers. “Either you will be killed by Enizu, or you will kill him. And I can’t allow either to happen. Even if it costs my own life, like you say, I won’t let you!”

Kenshin didn’t answer at once. His attention focused on Enizu, who stood there in a defensive position, looking like he wasn’t about to go in for another attack. He turned to Naruku at last. He wished she would go, but it was hard to deny her as she glared up definitely, clutching her torn and battered arm, sweat and blood dripping off her. But he knew if she stayed her wounds would not stop at that arm.

Carefully calculating his opponent’s actions, Enizu chose that moment to lunge forward. He didn’t look to keen on missing his target. Kenshin looked back at him just in time to duck and avoid being impaled.

“Leave you stupid wench!” Enizu cried. “Before I turn my sword back on you for your insolence!”

Kenshin growled and lurched forward, attacking Enizu in opposition.

Am I so unimportant to both of them? This battle is not about me, but I’m in it nevertheless. I cannot be ignored. “Stop it!” she cried. “Stop fighting right now and I’ll leave. Otherwise, I am not moving! There’s nothing anyone can say that will get me to leave—I know I’m being stupid, I still don’t care! I can’t let this fight end the way I know it will.”

Now both of the mens’ attentions were focused on her. Each of them had their own icy glare to send her way, but she disregarded both.

For a last time, Enizu lunged for her, wanting to throttle her. Kenshin blocked with dexterity and the next few moments were a turmoil of flying weapons. Their two swords clashed together until they finally broke apart, each man harboring a new set of cuts and bruises. Kenshin’s eyes glowed a harsher amber than before, narrowed in a fierce glare that Enizu matched.

“Leave. Now,” Kenshin spoke to Naruku, clipping his vowels. “You’re in the way.”

Naruku shied away from these harsh words, gaping slightly. “Nn…” his unspoken aggression and battle ki weighed down on her, making it very hard for her to utter defiance. She shook her head rapidly. “Look, I already told you I’m not leaving! I’m staying here. Get it? No amount of danger or annoyance is going to change my des…ci…sion…”

She choked on her words as she felt herself being lifted from behind. She let out a strangled yelp and struggled in Enizu’s harsh grasp. One hand moved to cover her mouth while the other held a katana to her throat. Her thrashing ceased as she realized just how close the blade was to killing her. She could smell the metal, and feel it cold against her pale skin.

“One move,” Enizu said in a low, smug voice. “One move and I will tear out her throat and you will watch her bleed.”

Even Himura Battousai could not stay unfazed. His eyes widened and his pupils dilated. What Enizu had pulled was a low blow. He let out a roar of fury.

Enizu held Naruku firmly in place. Her eyes became blurred with hot tears. She growled under her breath at her own stupidity. She had been so morally just in her cause, hadn’t she? And her presence had, again, messed up Kenshin’s chances of winning. She said she hadn’t wanted him to kill, but if she died for that cause, would it really make the Rurouni feel better?

She watched through distorted eyes as Kenshin shot forward, his sword cocked back in a menacing fashion. She panicked almost immediately; forgetting how close Enizu’s sword was to her throat. The thing that concerned her was being in the middle of their fight. Thinking quickly, Naruku swung back and kicked Enizu where he was most vulnerable. He loosened his grip for a moment while he tried to get over the intense pain, and Naruku made use of the situation and threw herself down, rolling away just as Kenshin struck Enizu.

Though she was safely on the sidelines, Kenshin’s attacks still did not relent. Naruku watched, her fears becoming more and more pronounced. She felt she should have stuck it out and stayed there in the middle rather than let Kenshin succumb to the hitokiri inside him and Enizu’s tactics. Damn it all…She contemplated finding her way between them again, but that meant going between their swords, and by the look of it, she would be ripped to shreds before either man could so much as acknowledge her sudden presence. She decided against jumping in the way, but she knew they needed to be stopped somehow.

As their battle became more heated and quick-paced, Naruku became more panicked. In a sudden rush of recklessness, she unhooked her sheath and weighed her sword carefully on the palm of her hand. She grasped it firmly and averted her attention to where Enizu and Kenshin were fighting. With a flick of her wrist she sent the sword flying between the two men. They slowed down for just a moment to avoid the flying object, but it was enough.

Without hesitation, Naruku threw herself between them, hoping to cease the strokes of their swords. Instead, she narrowly missed being sliced open by Enizu’s katana and was pushed away by the force of their fight and slammed into the wall.

Daunted, but not yet beaten, Naruku looked for new ways to interrupt the flow of their battle. She was afraid to do anything that involved leaving the room, so her mind stayed away from those possibilities. There were a few more minutes of fighting in which Naruku tried desperately to reach the two of them, but to no avail.

At last the fight stilled on its own, the two men finally flying apart again. Naruku took a moment to compare the wounds and expressions of each. It was obvious Kenshin had come out on top.

Or rather, Battousai had. He advanced threateningly, his amber eyes burning with the heat of the battle. He crouched low in a battoujutsu stance, the blade of his sword facing outward inside the sheath. When he drew, Enizu would be dead. It would all be over.

Naruku watched from the side with hollow eyes. She gulped and her expression settled into a soft but resolute expression.

Kenshin tensed, ready to throw his finishing hit and tear Enizu to pieces. It was a death that had to come. His hand twitched on the hilt, unsheathing the sword in a split second. The blade closed in on Kenshin’s target. Enizu would never be able to dodge and avoid the bloody death he was about to face.

And suddenly, Kenshin’s sword stopped, still in the air. All momentum came to an abrupt stop, the sakabatou simply hanging in the air.

Naruku’s lithe arms encircled his shoulders from behind, the slight pressure putting a stop to his actions and clearing up all his motives. Her face rested gently on his shoulder. “No,” the whisper prickled his ear.

“You can’t let him do this, Kenshin. He isn’t worth it. He’s the scum of a man, and there’s no way he could make you forsake your oath,” she went on.

Kenshin did not relax. If his sword moved just a half an inch then it would all come to—

“No,” she said it louder than before, a certain stern commanding tone accompanying the words. “No, Kenshin. Never…again. Remember?”

Kenshin heard the words in a voice different from Naruku’s. He did remember.

He felt cool fingers tracing over the scar on his left cheek. She tapped it lightly in the center. “It reminds you every day.” The same hand swooped down to caress the blunt side of his sakabatou. “You can never forget.”

He knew it all too well. He heard Tomoe’s voice in Naruku’s words, but the scent of ginger remained in place of white plum. The fresh, spicy scent cleared Kenshin’s mind. He blinked once and his eyes faded from amber to violet. He had thought he would never revert to the Battousai’s mindset again after Shishio. Perhaps…in a way, Kenshin needed his past as hitokiri. To help him remember what was important in the present.

Behind him, Naruku relaxed and unhooked her arms. “You can never forget. Remember that.” She closed her eyes, exhaustion taking over. She gave a small, serene smile and slumped back onto the ground.

Kenshin turned his reflective violet eyes onto Enizu again. The man in front of his didn’t move, as though he were completely paralyzed. Kenshin couldn’t even see the rise and fall of his chest that indicated breathing.

“Enizu,” he said quietly.

Enizu’s face screwed up in anger. He roared in fury, his mind completely irrational. He gave a long war-filled scream and lunged at Kenshin savagely.

Startled, Kenshin side-stepped the ill-thought out attack and watched in amazement as Enizu charged again, ready to tackle his opponent. This time he succeeded in knocking the wind out of Kenshin, but he even trampled over the fallen swordsman and disappeared out the door.

Once he was on the floor, Kenshin saw no real reason to get up. Perhaps he should take Naruku to the…to the doctor…that shoulder wound looked…kinda…kinda bad. He tilted his head back so it made contact with the floor and let his eyes droop close, allowing himself, at last, one moment of peace.