Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Alchemy of Gold and Silver ❯ Promised ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter 14: Promised

 

Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.

-Anonymous

 

********

 

 

Kaoru tapped a foot impatiently while the stoic Kenshin merely waited in silence beside her. She had studiously avoided looking at him for fear of what her addled mind would force her to think, and he hadn't done anything to draw attention to himself. Still, all this waiting was making it difficult not to start a conversation, something she wanted to put off if at all possible.

 

Ugh! Where is he? They'd told Sano to be here about fifteen minutes ago, and true to form, he was late. The habit hadn't really bothered her all that much until now, though it was important that he be here for this mission, and not only to diffuse some of the tension she was sure was just in her own mind.

 

After what seemed an eternity, she spotted him coming from the direction of the clinic. Well, that explains it. Sano had been spending an awful lot of time down there since they had returned from the forest, and Kaoru supposed she understood. It made sense that he'd want to be around the person he loved before they did something like this, something he might not come back from.

 

As the three exchanged greetings and began the silent march to Shishio's base, she was at once relieved and more frightened that Kenshin was going into this right beside her. Then she was irritated at herself for comparing her relationship with Kenshin to what Sano and Megumi had. It's not like that, is it? As much as Megumi pretended to hate it, they were always together, and their little displays of affection were poignant and subtle. They held hands when they thought nobody was looking, sat close to each other at mealtimes, and Sano walked her back to the clinic every evening.

 

Of course it's not. In truth, she and Kenshin rarely spoke, and to think that he would ever be anything but polite, distant Kenshin must surely be a mistake. What had happened the night before was a fluke, right? This is so frustrating! I tell Misao that she just has to spit it out to Aoshi, and I can't be bothered to do the same. I'm such a hypocrite. She knew why it was this way, of course. Kaoru was petrified that any such declaration would result inevitably in a dismissal, and that she would lose her friendship with Kenshin. She would rather stay silent for the rest of her life than relinquish what had become so precious.

 

Still, she was right in thinking that there was a chance that one or both of them might not live to see the end of this, and the thought terrified her. She had to do something about her feelings, otherwise she may never get the chance. But what?

 

****

The tension that radiated off Kaoru was enough to set Kenshin's teeth on edge. He might have asked her about the cause had he not been feeling just about as tense himself. He had no idea what to expect from Shishio or his underlings, and he had introduced another unknown factor into the equation himself when he bid Yahiko deliver his message the night before.

 

Sano seemed to be less concerned than the two of them were, though Kenshin knew enough of the man to guess that the carelessness with which he seemed to handle grave matters such as this was hardly more than a farce for the sake of setting other people at ease. It was doing precious little good in this case, or so it seemed.

 

The three of them came to stand outside the building that the Oniwaban had deemed Shishio's base of operations, and Kenshin could believe it. It was rather large, and… looming. He probably thinks to intimidate us. As though we are so easily daunted.

 

A disturbance of his ki sense, and Kenshin turned, to see that the other two had noticed it as well. Out of the shadows of the building stepped Haijime Saito.

 

Kaoru's first reaction was to narrow her eyes and move her hand so that her sword might be within closer reach, and Sano was quick to notice this, stepping in front of the other two, threat evident in his posture. “Just who do you think you are?” he asked, though it came out as little more than a growl.

 

“You should leash your dog, Battousai,” Saito said to Kenshin, pointedly ignoring the question.

 

Sano took another step forward. “Hey, didn't your old lady ever teach you that it's rude not to answer a question?”

 

Saito spared him an appraising glance, then, clearly finding something lacking, turned dismissively back to Kenshin. Sano's hand curled into a fist, but Kaoru placed her palm on his forearm and shook her head silently before she too looked in his direction, a clear question in her gaze.

 

“Saito has offered to join us, though I do not understand why,” Kenshin relayed by way of explanation. “I told him to be here.”

 

At this, both of the others moved their attention to the man standing, quite unperturbed by the looks of things, in front of them. “Aka Soku Zan, Battousai,” he offered shortly, as though this explained everything. Kenshin merely shrugged. He cared little for Saito's motives, as long as they were solid enough to guarantee he wouldn't betray them halfway through. He would just have to assume that the old creed of the Shinsengumi was good enough.

 

Strangely, Kaoru seemed to understand, and she nodded sagely before removing her hand from Sano's bicep, murmuring something inaudible to her friend as she did so. Whatever it was, it seemed to calm Sano somewhat, though he still glared openly at Saito, who continued to pretend as though the fistfighter didn't exist.

 

“Sano,” she said, loud enough for the others to hear, “would you mind using your ki to get a sense of this place? It… puzzles me.”

 

Kenshin focused on his own, and found that she was right. There were multiple strong auras within, but they were confounded somehow, as though in several places at once. Pinpointing any exact locations was going to be difficult, if not impossible. Still, he knew that Sano's ability to do this sort of thing was even greater than his own.

 

The tall man appeared to concentrate, then shook his head. “Gimme a minute,” he muttered, and moved off a ways, doubtless to concentrate. Saito raised an eyebrow, but when this elicited no reaction from Kenshin, he too wandered off, ostensibly to seek out the entrance.

 

Misinterpreting the pained look that flashed across Kaoru's face at this, he spoke to reassure her. “I do not think Saito intends to betray us. It was he who offered his assistance to me.”

 

She shook her head. “That's not it. I-” she cut herself off, and then regarded him pensively, head tilted to one side. He was about to ask if anything was wrong when she spoke again. “I'm afraid that someone might die.” The swordswoman appeared to flinch at her own bluntness, and dropped her eyes to the ground. “I know I should have more faith than that, but… it worries me.”

 

Kenshin understood. The previous night, it had been she that reassured him when his own concern for the others had surfaced. Now, their roles were to be reversed. She still confounds me. “I will not deny that this is a possibility…” he began slowly, deliberately, “but I think that your faith in our ability as a team is well-placed. There are few people I would trust my life to, Kaoru-dono, and you are one of them. We will find a way to succeed.”

 

She smiled slowly, but the gleam in her eyes that usually accompanied such an expression was absent, and Kenshin felt his gut twist unpleasantly. The smile faded, and she bit her lip. Before he could say anything else, she reached between the layers of her red and white gi and pulled out a small strip of silk that he was certain he recognized.

 

“Then promise me,” she said firmly, holding out the ribbon. “Take this, and promise that you will give it back, when this is all over.” Her knuckles were white where she clutched the thing, and her hand was visibly shaking. He cupped her fist in one hand, using the other to gently pry apart her fingers. She yielded, and the ribbon fell into his hand.

 

She swallowed audibly, and made to remove her hand. One of his still held her wrist, though, and he did not relinquish his grip. “It- my father gave it to me,” she began, hesitating at first, but adopting a false breezy tone he knew well as she continued, “and as such, I'd really like it to come back intact.” She exhaled, and all the bravado fell out of her demeanor. “But I'd be willing to lose it, as long as you do, okay?”

 

He had to listen closely to hear the words, but he felt an inexplicable warmth bloom in his chest as he did. Smiling slightly, he used his free hand to tilt her chin up and force her to meet his eyes. “I promise, Kaoru.”

 

This time, her whole countenance smiled, and he released her hand at last, just in time for them to hear Sano approach once more. “Well, looks like there's about seven people in there, and two of `em are noncombatants.”

 

“Noncombatants?” Kaoru sounded confused. “Why would Shishio keep noncombatants around?”

 

“Apparently to play tour guide,” replied Saito laconically, approaching from closer to the fortress itself. Jerking a thumb at the woman following him, he continued. “Found this one at the front door. Says we're going to need her to get through the place.”

 

Kenshin glanced at his companion. The woman was rather immodestly dressed; a courtesan, he supposed. He noticed with some bemusement that Kaoru was picking at her own garments somewhat self-consciously.

 

Apparently the woman noticed too, because she looked between the two of them and smiled slyly. “My name is Komagata Yumi,” she purred. “Shishio-sama has sent me to bring you to him. If you would follow me?” With that, she led them to the somewhat underwhelming- at least comparatively- entranceway and politely ushered them inside.

 

The first room they entered was dimly-lit at best, and Kenshin had the feeling that it would likely stay that way. True to suspicion, instead of lighting a lamp, Yumi made her way to the front of the group, bowed languidly, and smiled. “Shishio-sama waits at the back of the building. But I am afraid that he wishes you to prove yourselves against his subordinates before he agrees to meet you.” She gestured behind herself. “There are four doors here, and each leads to the domain of a different member of the Juppongatana. Choose well, for a poor decision may be the last one you make.”

 

Saito snorted at the dramatics, and Kenshin could not help but agree inwardly that it bordered on ridiculous. Still, he supposed that separating the group could be an effective strategy. Glancing at the others, he saw that Sano looked a bit uneasy, and was staring at one door in particular. Kaoru's mouth was set in a determined line, and Saito just looked bored.

 

“Ladies and idiots first,” he said snidely, shooting a sidelong glance at Sano.

 

“Well, Saito, if you're really that eager, I guess I won't stop you,” the younger man replied bitingly.

 

Kaoru rolled her eyes and stepped forward. “If we're really going to do this, we might as well get started,” she said curtly. Kenshin watched as she followed Sano's gaze, then picked the first door on the left, one he wasn't looking at. The fistfighter himself stepped up to the second door from the right and shrugged.

 

Kenshin felt for the ki signatures behind the doors. Sano had chosen a formidable opponent, whoever he was, but Kaoru's selection troubled him. He could feel absolutely no hostile ki behind the door at all. He knew Kaoru was not a coward, so either she sensed something he did not, or she was curious enough to take a risk. He sincerely hoped that her curiosity would not impede her. Of the two remaining doors, one was markedly stronger than the other. Kenshin was about to head for that one, the door between Sano and Kaoru, when Saito cut him off.

 

“If you're going to be dealing with Shishio, you'd better take that one,” the former Shinsengumi said simply. “Don't make any stupid mistakes.”

 

There was a moment of silence when they all lined up in front of the doorways, and Kenshin thought oddly about how of all the battles he had fought and won, none had mattered nearly as much as this one. I just hope I'm strong enough to do this when it really matters, he thought sardonically.

 

Kaoru broke his reverie. “Good luck, everyone. See you on the other side.” Her tone was steady, if soft. There was a grunt from Saito and something said in assent from Sano, but Kenshin paid no heed. He was too busy memorizing the sound of her voice, just in case this should be the last time he heard it.

 

Shaking the thought from his mind, he grasped the side of the sliding door as the others did and stepped through- into complete darkness.

 

****

 

Sano was rather unfond of being blind in the dark, but it seemed that Yumi had abandoned them to their fates, and so all his loud complaining to this effect went unheard. His passageway, however, was pretty direct, and it was a simple matter to follow the energy of his opponent. Before long, he had reached the end of the long hallway he had initially entered, and stepped into a large room, wherein a few candles burned.

 

In the center, seated and hunched in a meditative posture, was the man he had met in the forests outside of Kyoto.

 

“Anji,” he stated by way of greeting, “Long time, no see.”

 

****

 

Saito saw little need to waste time. He could sense the man's ki in the next room, though why the darkness and dramatics were necessary was beyond him. He could faintly hear the moron complaining somewhere to his right, but ignored it lest it confound his sense of direction.

 

The labyrinthine passages led him eventually to something of a more open space, though the easier passage of the air was the only way he could tell this, for the large room too was cloaked in darkness.

 

Deciding to dispense with the foolish aura of mystery, he lit one of the matches his wife did not know he carried and held it out before him.

 

“Ah, welcome,” greeted a voice from about three meters to his left. Swinging the match slowly so as not to snuff it out, he was met with the face of a man shorter than himself, with the air of a veteran of combat. Curiously, his eyes were shut.

 

“Forgive me, I have not introduced myself. Uonua Usui, at your service. As you may have guessed, I have little use for light, and I imagine you might want to put that match out, else fighting me would be much harder, no?”

 

Saito gave a noncommittal grunt. If the man insisted on dying on his own terms, it made no difference to the Wolf of Mibu. He snuffed the match beneath his foot, not in enough time to see the grin that spread its way across his opponent's face.

 

“Excellent. You shall be the next to die on the way to Shishio himself.”

 

****

 

Kenshin found his way without much difficulty at all. As a matter of fact, he was having more issues trying to understand how this man had become one of the Juppongatana than anything else.

 

“Oi, Himura-han? Are you even listenin' to me? I was sayin' how that's a funny-lookin' sword you got right there. Now most people, they look at that kind of sheath and they just think it's another ordinary katana, but I'll wager all my blades here that it ain't. What say we have a go and I'll see if I fancy takin' it from yer corpse, eh?”

 

Kenshin shrugged; there was little else to be done. This man was standing between him and Shishio himself. The rather curious-looking swordsman, who had called himself something Cho and proceeded to go on about how he killed samurai and took their swords, regarded him with one eye shut, as though waiting for a more committal answer. When none was forthcoming, he raised his own shoulders and drew one of the swords from his back.

 

“Not much of a talker, are ya? Well, I guess that's a good thing for me, seein' as how I get to see that funny sword'a yers sooner.”

 

****

 

For some reason, the woman calling herself Yumi had decided to follow Kaoru. The swordswoman herself couldn't fathom why, so she endured the courtesan's weighty gaze without comment as she traversed the building in search of another door.

 

The scrutiny wasn't as easy to ignore as she had hoped, though. After some minutes of what could only be described as deafening silence, Kaoru snapped. “Is there something you would like to tell me?” she asked, trying not to let her irritation get to the better of her.

 

Yumi laughed, and Kaoru could have screamed. Why was it that everything some women did just oozed seductiveness and grace for no reason while people like her had to struggle just to walk properly in a kimono? You have got to be kidding. There's no way I'm jealous of her. No way.

 

“I was simply wondering what you're doing here, little girl. This isn't a place for someone like you.” Her eyes narrowed, and she smirked.

 

Kaoru was smart enough to know it was bait, and hurt enough to take it anyway. “What do you claim to know of me? I belong here just as surely as any of the rest.”

 

Yumi made a careless gesture with one hand. “You think you belong here? What are you if not some helpless waif the Battousai took pity on and decided to let live? You've clearly taken a shine to the mysterious assassin and decided to follow him here. It's an old story, girl, one that never ends as well in real life as it does in the fables.”

 

This time it was Kaoru's turn to laugh, though there was no mirth in it. “I think you reach far beyond what you understand,” she said dismissively. “It is true, he has spared me more than once. But that does not make me helpless.” There was a pause. “And it is not Battousai the Manslayer that I love. It is Himura Kenshin.”

 

Yumi was silent for a time, and Kaoru was inclined to let it be. She soon reached a juncture in the road and stopped, trying to sense the direction from which her opponent was emitting ki. Unfortunately, whoever it was seemed to emit very little at all.

 

“So then why are you here?” The question caused Kaoru to start, intensely focused as she had been, and it took her a moment to find her words.

 

“Isn't it obvious? I fight to defend Kyoto from Shishio's invasion. But then, I suppose you really don't see it that way, do you?” The older woman looked taken aback by the question, but at length she responded.

 

“It's true that I don't. But… I do know what it's like to love a samurai, and I know that's part of your reason as well.” Yumi's smile took on a decidedly more tender cast than her earlier smirk, and Kaoru had a feeling she was seeing a side of the other woman that Shihsio himself knew little of.

 

Kaoru pondered a moment, trying to decide if she should really be saying this much, then lifted her shoulders. “I suppose it is. You and I are perhaps not so very different at all. Is that, perhaps, why you accused me of being a helpless hanger-on?” The swordswoman was beginning to get the distinct impression that this was how the other woman viewed herself.

 

“Of course not,” Yumi scoffed. “I am no fighter, but I have… other uses.”

 

Kaoru considered the possibility that this was a mere innuendo and discarded it. Her time among the Oniwaban had taught her that someone as beautiful and obviously well-educated as Yumi could learn many things most men could not. Her own time as a false geisha had assured her of it.

 

“You should go left,” was all that Yumi said for the rest of the way.

 

****

 

Yahiko gripped his Shinai all the tighter as he felt the strength slowly sap away from his hands after hours of exertion. The preemptive squad of soldiers had been bad enough, but then members of the Juppongatana had shown up.

 

Currently, it was himself, Misao, and a few other scattered members of the Oniwaban against the weird one called Kamatari, the creepy man who reminded Yahiko of a bat and could apparently fly, and about twenty ordinary samurai. Aoshi was off commanding the bulk of the ninja against the rest, except for the massive giant, who Hiko had immediately set off after once his impossibly large shape had been glimpsed on the horizon.

 

Misao was clearly engaging Kamatari one-on-one, shrieking something about men or women or kimonos or something, though Yahiko knew that unless someone helped her soon, she might be in for it. Unfortunately, he himself was currently unable to remedy this because the flying man had taken to attacking him.

 

To say it wasn't going well would be an understatement. He'd tried attacking when the emaciated man swooped low, only to find that his opponent was just beyond his reach each time. This didn't stop the projectiles that came flying at him, though, and he was covered in a number of small wounds. Add this to the fact that he'd been fighting for over four hours straight, and he was beginning to understand the point of all the laps Kaoru made him do.

 

He wondered briefly if she was okay, but was unable to dwell on it for too long since he had to dodge again. If something didn't change, and fast, they were going to lose Kyoto.

 

****

 

Megumi had initially been confused when Katsu had approached her about making bombs, but now she was grateful he had. She was pretty sure the idea had actually come from Sanosuke; the oaf had been awfully curious about the drugs used to put people under or dull pain during surgery. It had been a rather simple matter to concentrate some of these substances once his friend had asked, and Katsu had somehow turned them into a gas.

 

She threw another of her improvised devices at the soldiers outside her door, smirking as she heard unconscious bodies hitting the ground. Megumi trusted her abilities as a doctor, even if she didn't always trust herself, and there was no way any of those guys would be waking up for quite some time. Nobody interferes with my patients… or my friends.

 

Speaking of friends, her patients all seemed to be stable for the moment, and few if any soldiers seemed to be actually reaching her. If she was quick about it, she might have time to check in on the Aoiya, and maybe provide some assistance.

 

Without another thought, she grabbed bunch of bandages, a needle and thread, some antiseptic, and as many of her patented sleep bombs as she could carry. I swear… running out into the middle of the fray like this… Sano really is a bad influence. She couldn't help but smile when she thought of him, though she'd die before she told him so.

 

The inn was soon in sight, and she spotted a few men trying to flank the Okashira's little weasel. “Misao! Cover your nose and mouth!” she yelled, lobbing a device rather ungracefully.

 

Luckily for the kunoichi, the area of impact was pretty small, and the men went down even as the girl was forced to turn her attention back to the opponent she had been engaged with prior to the lady doctor's arrival.

 

Moving on, Megumi spotted Yahiko a few yards away, apparently just looking at the sky. If she hadn't known he was Kaoru's student, she would have berated him for obviously no paying attention. As it was, she ran past him, throwing a few more bundles of mass lethargy as she went, hoping more than anything that she wasn't hitting too many Oniwaban. Most ninja carried gas masks with them, right?

 

Father… I wonder if you'd be proud of me now?

 

********

Kiku's Corner~

 

So yes, Megumi, Sano, and Katsu just invented knockout gas. Hopefully your willing suspension of disbelief will allow you to find this funny rather than flaming me for it…

 

In other news, thanks to Beth for the edit, and GreyPhoenix and Jade_LightningWolf for the reviews!

 

Looks like we have about two more chapters (maybe three) until this story is done. Fear not, though, I already have a general idea for another one I might write, if people are interested. How does an RK story based on the Robin Hood legend sound? It'd be loosely-based, of course, but hey, I think it has potential. It would also be the first truly AU world I've written, so be sure to tell me if you'd read it!

 

Until next week,

~Kiku~