Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Survival of the Spirit ❯ Survival of the Spirit Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Survival of the Spirit Chapter 12

Kaoru was lost in a memory. Sometimes they would sneak up on her while she was in the middle of something, like this one had, and she would sit staring into space. A smell could set it off, a sound, the taste of a piece of fruit or the lack of sound, it didn't matter. All of these things had Kenshin in them and she would lose herself.

It was closing time for the gym, it stayed open until ten for those who preferred the later hours and she was thinking about the first time she'd laid eyes on Kenshin. He had come to the gym late, eight in the evening, and stayed until closing time. Soon she had begun looking for him. Sometimes she would catch him staring at her and she didn't know whether he had an obsession or he was just weird as some patrons had said.

During their brief time as lovers he'd never talked to her about that time, the time before he'd finally spoken to her and entered her life. What had he been thinking? Why had he seemed to run from her every time she'd tried to talk to him? The idea that it was possible she'd never know made her shake her head no. He would be with her again, he would laugh and be gentle with her and Yahiko, and in the still of the night give her his love.

She sighed, feeling tears welling in her eyes again. Sano had called today and said he didn't seem any better, but that he felt they were doing stuff to Kenshin when he, Sano, was asleep. Megumi had said she felt as if she were intruding the entire time she'd been up there. No one had been hostile, they'd acted as if they were no more than the staff of a psychiatric hospital, but there was something under the surface, something that they were hiding, and it had to do with Kenshin and what he could do for his pursuers.

The sound of a small hand knocking on her office door jarred her from her reverie and she brought herself back to consciousness.

"Yahiko?Come in."

He came in and she watched him walk over to her. His bearing was almost military, his back ramrod straight, his body held stiff as if he were in some kind of parade.

"I'm finished."

He knew she reviewed his work more for presentation than academics, she had never taken the courses he was taking, but he felt that as his mother she should see what he was doing. When Kenshin got back he could go over more of the substance with him.

"Dinner is ready," Yahiko said as she handed the paper back to him. His eyes were flat, emotionless and very black, definitely not the eyes of a boy, of the boy he was. It was as if he'd packed the boy Yahiko away and this being had taken his place. Kaoru reached out her hand and touched his face, a tender touch meant to reassure. There was movement in the black eyes but the movement didn't translate to a smile and the new being Yahiko stood expressionless in front of her.

Smiling a smile that Yahiko saw didn't reach her eyes Kaoru stood and followed him into the kitchen.

Kaoru.

The name was in his head and he lay still in the silence as it echoed over and over in his head. Was she the woman in the dreams who was crying about him and always welcoming him to a home he couldn't remember? Why did he feel he knew her well, that somehow he had cared deeply for her.

He was lying on his side, the chains were long enough to allow that, and he opened his eyes. He was still in the white room, the deeply padded walls making sure he didn't bang his head open in frustration. Pictures were floating in his mind, scenes of a park, of a boy who he couldn't place, of that woman again, the one he now thought was named Kaoru.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to slow the images down so he could make sense of them, try to remember who was who and how he related to them.

As if he was trying too hard the noise began again, the screaming that made it impossible for him to hear himself think, that made it impossible for him to remember what he wanted so desperately to remember. As if the noise wasn't bad enough he heard a baby begin to cry. He knew it was crying for it's mother and father, and now he could see them, both dead at his hands. He'd left the baby alive and now it was crying, threatening to give his presence away. It had to die too, it was too small to shush, and he walked over to it, his knife in his hand. In close quarters like this a knife was better, no chance of someone hearing a gun shot.

As he walked towards the infant it suddenly stopped crying and looked up at him, smiling and lifting it's arms as it made happy baby sounds. Those sounds didn't stop when he picked the infant up by the back of it's neck. They stopped when with one motion he slit the infants' throat ear to ear, the hot warm blood spilling out over his hands as he dropped the now lifeless but still smiling form to the floor. He washed his hands under cold running water and stepped out into the common area of the building. No one was there, no one should be there, and he exited the building. The vision faded from his sight and he felt rough hands holding him down and the sting of the needle in his arm.

"No. I must…remember…I must….see Kaoru…"

Doctor Kadalooked at Saitou.

"Some of his other memories are coming back. What do you want me to do?"

"He was screaming about the baby crying, not Kaoru…"
"But at the end…the medication is taking effect."

Saitou nodded but said nothing, watching as a now quiet Kenshin, still lying on his side, stared vacantly into space.

"Where is Hideki?" Saitou asked.

"He should be here with us. I don't know where he is."

"I need him to have more hours of lucidity. His lying there like that doesn't do anyone any good."

"I understand," DrKadasaid.

Saitou watched him walk away and turned back to the scene inside the room.

"You don't have a clue," he said softly.

Eiichi saw Kaoru come in from the gym and gave her a smile.

"Hi."

"Hi. How was your class?" she asked digging a bottle of water out of the fridge and taking a long drink.

"Good. The kids are really enthused."

"Two more parents came today and they want to sign their kids up for Saturday classes. Can you swing that?"

"How old are the kids?"

"Ten, eleven.You'd be compensated for the extra work of course."

"I know you're honest Kaoru."

"Thank you. Let's see how many more come in once the word gets out we're thinking of a Saturday class. We'll play it by ear."

She made to go into her office and he knew he had to make his move.

"What are you doin' tonight?"

Kaoru stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, eyes wide. She wanted to say something witty and bright but all that came out was "Huh?"

"I asked you what you were doing tonight?"

"Oh. Well, Yahiko and I are going to go to a movie and then eat some McDonaldsor something. He loves that stuff, why I don't know."

"Kaoru, I would like to take you out on a date. If not a movie, then dancing."

She opened her mouth to say "Yes," but her head was shaking no.

"I, can't right now. I'm sorry."

She disappeared into her office, her face flushed and visibly shaken, and he sighed. This was going to be harder than he had thought it would be.

Sano had taken an instant dislike to Hideki and made sure he was always in the observation room when he questioned Kenshin. He'd heard about the episode this morning when Kenshin had awakened screaming about a baby crying and had had to be heavily sedated after he'd pulled against his restraints so hard his ankles and wrists were left bleeding and raw. While he was unconscious they'd bandaged the damaged areas and let him sleep the meds off. Sano watched as Hideki sat down on a chair across from Kenshin. It was Kenshin's first time out of the padded cell since his arrival six days ago and the first time Sano had seen his eyes relatively clear and focused. He was still cuffed to the chair and leg irons had been fitted over his bandages.

"You were upset this morning Kenshin."

Kenshin was not sure who this man was but he didn't like him at all.

"Why am I here?"

"You're here because you went off your medication for too long and you started to lose control."

"Why was I off my medication? Was it an experiment of some kind?"

"No. you started to live away from your normal life, the life you were used to."

"Why?"

"You met someone you wanted to be with."

"Who?"

"You know her name."

"If I knew her name I wouldn't be asking you."

"Her name is KamiyaKaoru."

Inwardly Kenshin breathed a sigh of relief. Kaoru was a real person and from what this man said they'd been very close friends, maybe boyfriend and girlfriend. To Hideki he showed no reaction. Kaoru was real, so the feelings he had for her were real too. He couldn't let this Hideki person know he cared for Kaoru. The why escaped him but he knew not to reveal his feelings. He did have other questions though and since the man was giving out information he thought it best to ask them.

"Do we have kids? This KamiyaKaoruand I?"

"You were taking care of a boy, Yahiko."
Again his spirit soared. The boy was real too. If he could only remember why he hated this man in front of him he'd be doing well.

"You left her."

"Why?"

"Only you can answer that question. Maybe you thought that you would do to her what you did to Shura."

The name set off alarms all through his body and he tensed. Hideki saw the change and noted it. Sano leaned forward seeing the change in Kenshin at the mention of Shura's name.

"Shura?"Kenshin said warily. The name was echoing in his head and he knew he should know her too.

"You do remember her?"

"No."

Hideki fought to keep his anger under control even as he wondered how much Kenshin did remember. He seemed fairly lucid and his questions made sense.

"You, uh, were going to marry her until you tried to kill her one morning."

"Oh."

"That's all you can say is 'Oh?'"
"I don't remember her. I'm sorry. I don't remember you."

"But you remember Kamiya."

"She's in my head," he said, volunteering more information than he wanted to about what his thoughts were like at this time.

Sano smiled to himself but didn't miss the hard glint in Hideki's eyes. This man hated Kenshin and meant him no good.

"Do you know where you are? What this place is?"
"A hospital."

"Do you like being out of the padded cell?"

"Am I going to stay out?"

"You still need to be restrained, you hurt yourself rather badly this morning, but you are being transferred to a room of your own. It'll have a bed, a chair and a television. As long as you don't attack any of the attendants or try and harm yourself you can stay in the room. You should write down what you remember."

"I'm fine."

"Does the name Shishio mean anything to you?"

Something teased at his brain but again the thought was incomplete. He shook his head and Hideki asked what was wrong.

"The noise is getting louder."
"Does the medicine help stop the noise?"

"When I sleep there's no noise. And when I wake up I don't get the noise but if I talk too much, try to remember too much the noise comes back."
"Like now."

"Yes."

"Do you want to sleep?"

"Yes. But no medicine. Please. Just let me sleep."

"You have to take your medicine three times a day. You've had one dose. The second one will be brought to you in your room."

"I am missing something important. I don't know what."

"We'll talk again in the morning," Hideki said standing up and signaling the end of the session. Kenshin continued to sit keeping his eyes on Hideki. If he did it now, he could crush the man's carotid with one blow. The knowledge was there, he hadn't had to summon it, and as he watched Hideki make some phone calls he knew that if he talked about people it was kind of okay. To talk about killing was something his mind told him to keep to himself. As they sat him down in the wheelchair and strapped him in he smiled, making the attendants step back from him in fear. They were afraid of him he thought to himself. He could kill them all in less than two minutes.

The room was long and narrow, but Hideki hadn't lied. There was a bed, a chair, a wall mounted television, a sink and a toilet. He walked around the room several times, the sound of his paper slippers swishing on the bare floor the only sound. Once he was sure this was not a hallucination he sat down on the bed and stretched out. From this angle it was easy to see the television screen but he had no interest in turning it on. Kaoru likes watching television he thought to himself. Again Kaoru. She would watch basketball with him…

What day was it? Suddenly obsessed he turned on the television and found a news channel. It was late summer. How long had be been fighting the noise? How long had he been in this place? The sound of the man talking was making him nervous and he turned the television off and began pacing the room. He needed to get out of here, needed to find out what the hell was going on in the world he'd glimpsed on television. When he saw the attendants come in he shook his head no and asked not to be sedated.

"Doctor's orders," one of them replied before injecting him with the medicine. Kenshin sank bonelessly onto the bed and they left him to dream.

In his office Doctor Kada was buoyed by the progress Kenshin had made today even if he now lay in a drug induced stupor tied down to his bed. He had started to try and put his world in order and to find out who he was in relation to it. This was the hard part because his will was such he would want out of the restricted environment and would then be harder to control. Instead of chains soft restraints were being used and he lay flat on his back, his mouth partially open. Tomorrow would be a good day Doctor Kadathought with a smile.

Hideki knew he was taking a chance but it was the only chance he'd have to get to Kenshin, to take revenge for what he'd done to Shura. He had checked the schedule and the guard who was supposed to be on duty was usually asleep half an hour after assuming his post. As he approached the ward he frowned. This was not the guard who slept. He could've turned back and try tomorrow but he lifted his head and walked towards the guard table, making note of the hour as he did.

"Sir.I wasn't alerted of an emergency…"

"I don't think the nurses would tell a mere guard if a patient needs to see his physician." Hideki said, annoyance creeping into his voice. This guard was one of the better ones, and wouldn't be dissuaded by smart remarks and attitude.

"I'm sorry sir, but you need to tell me which patient."

"HimuraKenshin."

The guard called the night supervisor who came downstairs at once. Anyone trying to see Himura had to be approved in advance. Next week, if all went well, Himura would be able to receive guests and every effort was being made to make sure he was up to the task.

"Sir.How may I help you?"

"I had heard Himura had a problem…"

"That was earlier today sir. He seems to be adjusting well to his new room and he took his medication both this afternoon and this evening."

"We adjusted it and I wanted to see how his readings look, if he's able to sleep with the lesser dose."

"I…"

"Ten minutes. I'll be fast."

The guards looked as if they doubted his word and Hideki had to act fast.

"Look, I know you have your orders but I am Himura's doctor. I don't need an excuse to see my patient. Now do I get in or do I have to call your superior?"

The night supervisor looked Hideki in the eye as if he could discern his motives by a mere glance.

"Ten minutes Doctor. No more."

"Thank you."

Hideki quickly made his way down the corridor using his access card to enter the high security ward where Kenshin was being held. The door to Kenshin's room was locked and once again he had to use his card to enter, deciding against turning on the light and walking over to the bed.

Kenshin was sound asleep. The final dose of his meds had included a powerful sedative that would ensure deep, almost natural sleep and that had been prescribed by Hideki. Doctor Kadahad followed the original dosage requirements and had cut back on the strength of the medicine's Himura was being given. Hideki had gone in via computer and added the sedative to the dosage Kenshin was to be given at night. He needed Himura to be sound asleep tonight with no chance of waking up.

Shorn of his hair, and his features relaxed Himura looked no more than a boy of nineteen or twenty. Hideki took very little time studying him though and turning his back to the surveillance camera he removed the syringe from the case he had in his pocket and injected the sleeping man with a powerful hallucination inducing drug, just enough to make it look as if he'd had a relapse. They would monitor him and continue the adjusted medical dosages he prescribed until he'd be able to administer the dose that would destroy his mind forever and force the government to kill him. By the time they thought to review his medical history he would've adjusted things back to what Kada had recommended and no one would be the wiser.

"You couldn't remember my cousin's name Himura. Now you won't remember your whore's either," he said before leaving as quietly as he'd come.

Kenshin was screaming incoherently and blood poured down his face from the wound opened on his head because he had been banging his head on the wall before they finally got him secured to his bed.

"What the hell happened?" Sano growled at Saitou.

"He was good yesterday. I saw it. Even at his craziest he didn't act like this!!!"

"I know. Something happened to him between when he went to bed and this morning." Sano had never seen Saitou off his game and the fact that the man was upset made him upset.

"Someone is trying to kill him."

"Who?Who can get in here?"

"Check his meds. I bet something is wrong…"

"I prescribed his medication and he was dosed per my instructions. I don't understand…" Doctor Kadaprotested. He was at a loss too and very worried that Kenshin would not be able to rejoin society.

"Check them again. Now."

"I can call…"

"No, check them yourself. Now." Saitou stared at Doctor Kada until the Doctor relented, walking over to a nearby terminal and logging on, protesting as he did.

"I will but I won't find…" his voice trailed off and both Sano and Saitou went quickly to his side.

"What is it Kada?" Sano growled, the howling from inside the room seeming to increase in intensity.

"I, I didn't prescribe this sedative. He didn't need it."

Kada rushed back into the room just in time to prevent them from giving him a tranquilizer.

"I want his blood work before we do anything."

"But sir…"

"I want his blood work."

"And I say we can't let him suffer like this. Sedate him." Hideki said walking calmly up to the men standing in the hallway.

"You know, I've had about enough of your ass," Sano said pushing Hideki against the wall. "Let Doctor Kadado his job. Kenshin's restrained and he can't hurt himself again. An hour won't make that much difference."

"And where is your medical degree?"

"These fists are all the degree I need to deal with you."

Kada took the blood and looked at Hideki before leaving the room. Sano noticed that Hideki was sweating profusely but he said nothing, filing the information away for when he could prove what he thought. The lab techs ran off to evaluate Kenshin's blood and Hideki stood silently wondering how long it would take for Saitou to look at the tapes from last night. He had to remove the tape before Saitou would ask to see it. Sano saw Hideki looking at the camera and looked at Hideki with pure hatred. If he'd done what Sano thought he'd done he'd kill him himself. Exhausted and afraid for this man who had become his friend despite initial misgivings Sano sat down in the chair.

"I'll sit with him. If he gets worse I'll call the nurse."
"You're a civilian…"
"Right now I'm the only friend he's got in this shit hole. Put me out and I call the press to say someone is murdering patients here."

"Haven't figured it out yet have you you idiot. This place doesn't exist."

"It will when I'm finished, if you put me out."

"We can't leave you here with him…"
Kenshin was on a cursing jag that would shame the most hardened sailor and Sano looked at the doctors with a look that brooked no challenge. A psychiatric nurse, a man who looked like he'd been a sumo wrestler at some point in his life, joined Sano in his vigil while they waited for the results of Kenshin's blood work.

Megumi was exhausted. The legal assault on her clinic was continuing unabated and now she seemed to be losing. Some enterprising clerk had found a way to say the area wasn't zoned for a clinic and that it should be shut immediately. The people of the neighborhood were rallying around and the press was covering the situation now but all it meant was that the doctors and nurses couldn't do their work without stepping over and running into people who were just there "making sure the big guys don't take away the little guys health care facility."

Yahiko had told her this morning she looked crappy and she knew she did. She needed sleep. The last thing she needed was her mother.

"Dear, you need to come home and rest. Let the lawyers do what they do and if the clinic closes I'm sure you'll be able to find a much better paying job at a real hospital and move out of that slum where you're living."

"It is not a slum mother…"

"People like you don't live in places like that."

"I know. You and Dad help create them for 'those people'."

"I don't understand why you're so bitter about what your father does for a living when that living is why you went to the best schools and got the best education money could buy."

"Don't make like it's all daddy dearest's doing mother. I know you're in there somewhere I just could never figure out where."

Her mother laughed.

"I'd like you to attend a reception with me."

"No."

"Oh TakaniMegumi, sometimes you annoy me so much!!! It's on a Sunday, your day off…"
"I take Yahiko to his Math Club on Sundays and give Kaoru a chance to rest."

"Oh who cares about this boy and that girl?"

"I do mother. They're my friends. And Yahiko is going to be a great man one day."
"Whatever. Here's the invitation. I hope to see you there. Oh, and if you do decide to come, let me know and I'll send a car for you. Don't shame us completely by driving that tin can you call a car."

Her mother waltzed out the door and Megumi tore the invitation to shreds and threw it away without even reading it. She was supposed to have been taking a twenty minute nap and now her twenty minutes were up. She splashed cold water on her face and went back downstairs to work.

Aki breezed in and smiled looking around. No one was in sight. Hoping that Kaoru hadn't cooked she took some food from the stove and sat down at the table. Nope, not a Kaoru ruined special.

"I wonder if she can even boil water," Aki said to herself. She looked in on two of the classes, stopping at the second one where a man she hadn't seen before was teaching. He was handsome, and she wondered who he was as she headed out the door and towards the gym. She ran into Kaoru sitting with the old man in front of his house.

"Kaoru, here you are!!! Didn't you see me come in?"

"I was hoping it was a trick of the light."

"Oh you're so funny. How are you?"
"Fine. You?"
"Well, we were concerned and wanted to know if things are still going well."

"They are thank you. This is Genzai…"

"Hi. Well, tell me, how is that cute red haired boyfriend of yours? You know you never did tell me how old he was, and if you two were getting married…"

Kaoru burst into tears and Aki stared.

"What? Did they break up or something?"

"He's very sick and we don't know if he'll pull through. It's been a difficult time for Kaoru," Genzai said, concern on his face and in his voice. Aki noted it but continued talking.

"Oh. He looked healthy to me when I saw him. Thought he was too old for her but whatever. I'll stay a few days and make sure everything is okay."

"We're all looking after Kaoru. She'll be fine. You can go back to your home."

"Oh I insist. We're family after all, and family takes care of family. Come on Kaoru, he'll be better soon. Why don't you come in and take a nap?"
Genzai had given Kaoru a tea that would help her sleep, she'd come to him because she couldn't take more than cat naps now, and he watched as Aki led her inside the dojo. With any luck Kaoru would sleep until tomorrow.

Doctor Kadaread the lab report three times before he could accept it. The street punk had been correct. Someone was trying to kill his friend. Two more doses of the hallucinogenic would have caused irreparable brain damage resulting in a permanent vegetative state which the government would not allow to go on for very long. Once Himura voided he would be well on his way to recovery from what he was going through now.

"It ain't good huh Doc?" Saitou asked walking up to Doctor Kadawho was still shell shocked.

"No, it's not. I thought the security here was the best…"
Saitou took the report from the shaken man's hands and read it. He knew what the drug was and what it could do.

"How long ago was he dosed?"

"It had to have been while he slept. He won't let anyone near him but the attendants and nurses he trusts. And that's the other problem, why he was so deeply asleep. He's trained to react to the slightest sound and even in his condition he was doing that. That second sedative rendered him almost comatose."
"Is it another doctor?"

"It could be. I'll double the security on his room tonight. No one will be allowed in."

"What about tapes?"

"We tape our sessions…"
"Surveillance tapes."

"Oh. I believe there's one in his room."

"People have been in and out of there all day. Shit."

The tape they watched now showed Kenshin ranting and raving. Nothing was on it from the night before. Saitou knew it had been destroyed and told the doctors not to bother to search for it. Now that the person had failed they would wait a couple of weeks before trying again.

There was a knock on the door frame and Saitou looked up to see Sano standing there.

"What do you know about his guy Hideki?" Sano asked coming into the room.

"He's a shrink."

"He's the one trying to kill Kenshin."

Saitou eyed the street punk and sat down on his desk facing him.

"Why?"

Sano looked Saitou up and down, his lips pulled back in a feral snarl.

"That's your job spy boy. Something is making him go after Kenshin and whatever it is involves something personal, not whatever it is you people want Kenshin to do. Check his background. He's tied to something or someone from Kenshin's past."

Sano turned and left leaving Saitou sitting on his desk deep in thought. Fifteen minutes later Saitou got up and walking behind his desk began to do research on Hideki.