Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Demon Child ❯ The Spark of Battle ( Chapter 7 )

The Demon Child

Chapter seven: The Spark of Battle

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Battousai was halfway across the hall heading for Sano and Megumi's quarters when a trickling sensation surge through him.

The crimson-haired vampire frowned as his amber eyes gleamed.

Someone had tampered with the shield he made in Kaoru's room.

Pushing aside thoughts of how to punish Megumi; Battousai made a move to turn around when he felt the sudden rush of another ki heading towards him.

Battousai smirked when he found out that the ki belonged to none other than Kaoru. However, he quirked an eyebrow when he noticed that the demon's aura was radiating brighter than usual.

He was unsurprised though. Kaoru had probably figured out that Megumi was the one responsible; even though she couldn't have remembered much of what had transpired.

Battousai leaned his shoulder against the wall and instead waited for Kaoru to catch up with him.

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Kaoru glided up the floor where Soujiro had told her Megumi would be with Sano in their room. A part of her wanted to leave the two lovebirds to themselves while the rest of her wanted to pound the said doctor-vampire until she's black and blue.

Actually, she was hoping to let Battousai be the first to taste her rage but so far she hadn't seen nor heard the vampire.

Kaoru's footsteps were as soft as a whisper, developed through years of training, as she made her way down the corridor with soft dimmed lights guiding the path. Her sapphire blue eyes gleamed silver when she spot Battousai leaning against the wall with his gaze up on the ceiling.

Lush lips twitched into a smirk as the redhead looked down and met her gaze with his amber eyes.

Well speak of the devil.

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Battousai had contented himself with staring at the designer marks on the ceiling when he felt Kaoru's ki emitting stronger than earlier which meant that she was close.

He tore off his gaze from above and peered into unamused sapphire-silver depths.

"What are you looking at?" snapped Kaoru, hands on her hips as she glared death at him.

He fought off a smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

Obviously, Kaoru wasn't too aware of her state of dress.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

He gave a small laugh. Quite uncharacteristic of him but it was worth it just to see the expression on the silver-haired demon's face.

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Kaoru was flabbergasted. Never had she heard Battousai laughing. She didn't think that he was the type.

But…she couldn't deny that it wasn't very sensual in a hoarse, deep kind of way.

In fact; if she wasn't so pissed right now at him, Kaoru might've relished at the sound.

Somehow, she had the feeling that Battousai hadn't laughed in a long while.

But, as it may be, she wasn't in the mood for humor and soon followed her wits; ignoring the fast thumping of her heart.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes; the silver in them swirled amongst sapphire blue.

"Yes, I did but I would've enjoyed it more if I knew why I suddenly woke up from my bed. Dressed in your clothes I might add."

Battousai shrugged his shoulders. "No need to fret. I didn't take advantaged of you. I prefer my future mate to be willing."

Then his amber eyes grew dark. "As for how you woke up in your bed, I can explain that. You passed out sometime after and I merely offered you a more preferable place to sleep. I expected that you wouldn't be pleased to wake up on the cold marble of the bathroom."

Kaoru scoffed. "How can I be sure that you didn't take advantage of my unwelcomed state of vulnerability?"

The crimson-haired vampire eyes' rimmed with red as he stood upright. "Are you calling me a liar?" He practically snarled out the words.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "I may not remember all of what had happened but what I do remember is that you had barged into my bathroom and kissed me."

Battousai growled beneath his throat. "That may be so but I assure you that I never took anything that isn't to your consent."

Kaoru let out a growl of her own. "Even so; that still doesn't explain why you acted the way you did. You don't own me."

Battousai let out a harsh laugh. "Don't own you? My dear Kaoru, you are never more wrong. You belong to me and no one else. You are MINE."

Kaoru's lips churned into a furious frown and, quick as lightning, reached out her clawed hands to swipe at the male vampire's face.

In a speed even more remarkably faster than Kaoru's, Battousai grasped the demon's outstretched wrist with his own hand.

It was a very fortunate fact that Battousai is as powerful and swift as he is; otherwise Kaoru would've clawed his eyes out if the vampire was a nanosecond too slow. The tips of her deadly claws were merely centimeters away from his face.

Kaoru hissed and twisted her wrist so that she would be released. Reacting on instincts, Battousai merely tightened his grip. He had retracted his own claws though so that the sharp material wouldn't pierce the demon's alabaster skin.

The silver-blue-haired demon was amazed that Battousai had the speed to catch her wrist; seeing as how they were merely inches apart. However she covered this up with her pent-up anger that was slowly beginning to dissway.

"Listen here Battousai." Kaoru spat out; her eyes blazing with poorly-contained rage. "I am not some piece of meat that you can just take your claim on. I belong to no one else but myself."

Battousai's amber eyes gleam a dark red. "Obviously, you don't know much about my species way of claiming a mate."

"What mate Battousai? As far as I'm concerned; you never cared about me that much." Kaoru growled; the depths of her eyes sparked with defiance.

As soon as the words sprang from her mouth; Kaoru felt the wind knocked out of her lungs as Battousai pushed her against the wall adjacent to them.

Fiery amber-red eyes glared at her as Battousai growled. "Never. Ever. Say that I do not care about you."

"Do you honestly think that you could've stopped me from taking you here now if I didn't care about you?" He asked slowly, as if emphasizing each word.

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is."

"You are such a damn liar, Battousai."

"DAMNIT KAORU! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT I LOVE YOU?!"

"HOW THE HELL CAN YOU LOVE ME? WE DON'T EVEN KNOW EACH OTHER UNTIL A FEW DAYS AGO!"

"BECAUSE EVERYTIME I SEE YOU, I CAN'T SEEM TO CONTROL MYSELF!"

"SO ALL I AM TO YOU IS JUST A GOOD LAY ON THE MATRESS, IS THAT IT?!"

"NO!! THAT IS EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I MEANT!"

Kaoru opened her mouth as if to comment but then shut it instead. "I don't know what to think anymore." She whispered softly.

The silver-blue haired demon felt her body go limp with exhaustion from shouting too much and frankly, Kaoru didn't care one damn bit about it.

Kaoru let herself slide to the floor and drew her knees together. The female demon bent her head to hide in the silk-woven fabric of her kimono and closed her eyes to rid the pounding of her head…or was it her heart?

"Why does this have to happen? Why can't I seem to take my mind off the first kiss we shared? Why is it that my whole body yearns for your touch? Damnit! I hate this feeling! I wished I could just understand all of this shit." She muttered under her breath.

Kaoru had the sudden urge to bang her head against the wall until her whole brain turned to mush.

By the soft rustle of clothes, Kaoru heard rather than felt Battousai getting down on his knees in front of her. She was surprised, however, when she felt the vampire wrapping his strong arms around her lithe body and held her against his own. Kaoru felt a shiver ran through her spine when the crimson tips of Battousai's bangs tickled her exposed neck as he leant towards her ear to whisper softly.

"How can I make you understand Kaoru? Tell me how and I will gladly do it."

Against her better judgment, Kaoru's mouth opened and the demon replied.

"I don't trust people easily Battousai. In fact, I don't even know right now if you're being serious or if you're just playing with me."

"If ever I am playing with you, be aware that I play for keeps. Remember Kaoru; once I had stake my claim on you, I will always be there with you like a feeling that you can't shake off. You are mine just as I am yours. No one can take me away from you and I won't allow anyone else to take you from me."

The way he said those words seemed so sincere; like he actually meant it. Kaoru would've smiled then if not for the nagging part of her brain.

"Do you mean what you said that you love me?" She asked.

She couldn't help it. She really wanted to know why. She was never good at being contented to be left out in the dark.

Battousai looked surprised as Kaoru lifted her chin to look at him in the eyes. Kaoru fought down a giggle. The male vampire-slash-assassin had never looked so…well so child-like…before and it was really quite a funny site.

"Aww…is the famous Hitokiri Battousai tongue-tied by little old me?" Kaoru said in a teasing tone.

Inside, however, Kaoru was a mess. Her mind wheeled with different thoughts and her emotions varied from anger to happiness to a hint of sorrow that Battousai didn't replied so quickly. All of this the female demon covered up with a smile and a teasing surface.

Meanwhile, Battousai was downright confused. One minute Kaoru was ready to attack him, the next she began all serious and now she was just being a joker.

He sighed. He would never fully understand Kaoru. Just when you think that she feels that way; she surprises you by acting differently from what you expected. Could she be anymore mysterious?

Battousai smirked. Her mysteriousness was one of the many things that attracted him to her in the first place.

The male vampire grasped her chin gently and leaned in so that their lips were merely a breath away.

"Love is a word humans used often too many times." He stated. "And sometimes that 'love' never lasts for long."

Battousai closed his eyes for a moment; leaving Kaoru a bit disappointed that she couldn't see the beautiful red-gold color of his depths. "What I feel for you Kaoru is deeper than any attraction I had encountered in a very long time. I will not deny that I lust for your body, nor will I deny that I craved for your soul to entwine with mine."

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes slowly. "When a male vampire feels something akin to desire above the natural attraction, he thinks of no one else. Kaoru, you are the first female that made me feel this way. A male of my species cannot live without his mate and so, is ever faithful to her for eternity as long as she is faithful to him as well. Once a vampire takes in a mate, it is for forever."

"I need you Kaoru. I need you to brighten my world of darkness. I will not force you to accept my claim; but I will warn you that I will not back off. Even though I had not yet performed the Binding."

Without a moment's hesitation, Battousai closed the (tiny) gap between them and kissed her.

The kiss was gentle at first. But soon, it became more demanding as his mouth seeks hers. Kaoru felt her body betray her as she let out a soft moan of contentment as Battousai nibbled a pouted lip.

Kaoru wasn't uneducated in the ways of lust. She had always known that she was a very desirable woman; even in her human disguise. A few times, she had used the knowledge to her disposal. Mostly just to distract her opponents and let down their guard; rarely though did she do it for she was also an honorable person.

Still, Kaoru knew that desire and love are a deadly combination. She desired Battousai but she wasn't sure if she loved him as well. It was too soon; everything was too soon.

Yet, Kaoru already knew how she felt. The need for the male vampire to touch her aroused her senses wholly. She had never felt that way around anyone else before. Everything about him captivated her.

It was indescribable. And regardless of how her mind reacted; Kaoru was drawn to him.

She wanted to be with him. She wanted to be his forever.

Reluctantly Kaoru pulled herself away from the vampire. Staring into his amber-red eyes; Kaoru gave a small fanged smile and lifted her wrist to his mouth.

She noticed his eyes widening before he stared down at her in mild surprise.

"Are you sure about this?" His voice came out hoarse and slow.

The demon gave him a reassured nod of her head and flicked her wrist so that the skin shielding the blood vessels was exposed to him.

Kaoru may not know much about the Binding but she did know that by exposing her wrist and letting a vampire willingly bite a mark on a particular spot; it meant that she had already accepted his claiming. Call it the first step of courtship humans always do before their own style of mating called 'marriage'.

Kaoru wasn't too sure however if she was ready to face the consequences.

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"Damnit! Where the hell are you!" yelled Misao in fury as she surveyed the training room.

Currently; she was supposed to detect where Aoshi is and attack him.

However, it seemed that the dark-haired vampire was just too sneaky for her taste.

Aoshi's cool voice drawled somewhere in the room and Misao unconsciously shivered at the sound.

"You will not succeed in finding me if you see with your eyes. See with your ears instead."

See with my ears? What the heck is that supposed to mean?

Misao frowned pettily and voiced out these thoughts.

Aoshi merely replied. "What do you think it means?"

"I think it means that I'm going to kick your mysterious ass when I get a hold of you." Misao grumbled under her breath.

She did follow Aoshi's advice though; no matter how silly it seemed. Misao closed her eyes and tried to focus. Her others senses were heightened slightly due to the loss of sight and it was because of this that Misao could pick up clearly the sound of crickets chirping outside the dojo where a small pond lay.

A small tapping sound emitted and Misao perked up her ears in attention but the sound soon faded away. The young woman felt disappointment swelling in her. Then…

There it is again! She was sure she had heard it this time.

Small signs of wrinkles lined in Misao's forehead as she concentrated in tuning out any other sounds that would proved to be a distraction. Her mind was in a limbo of the deepest pitch black; totally focused on nothing else.

A soft patter reached her ears. It sounded like it came from the corner behind her.

Misao lifted an arm up; her kunai poised to strike as it lay between her fingers.

Another pattering sound was heard; this time it was at her left.

As quick as humanly possible; Misao strike the small dagger-like weapon at the direction which she'd last heard the sound.

The slight clang of metal hitting metal rang in her ears and Misao snapped open her eyes.

She turned to her left to see Aoshi with his sword taken out and in a diagonal position with the blade merely inches from touching his right cheek.

From what she'd gathered; Misao concluded that she flung hr kunai somewhere at Aoshi's right and was deflected by his sword and quick reflexes.

"Excellent. You've managed to become better in just a short amount of time." He muttered coolly.

"But…" Aoshi positioned himself to an offensive stance.

"Are you capable enough to fight me?" He continued.

Misao's emerald eyes sparked with determination as she reached for her kunais hidden in her pockets.

"I don't know." She admitted.

"But I can sure try." She continued.

Icy blue depths gleamed in slight amusement at the young human female.

Aoshi gave the tiniest of smirks.

"Let's see you try then."

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Sano growled as someone knocked at the door. Megumi, his mate, made a move to get out of the bed when the spiky-haired vampire grabbed her wrist and pulled her gently back to the soft pillow.

"Just ignore it and they'll go away." He grumbled; nuzzling the female vampire's slender neck.

Megumi smiled at her love's childishness. She shook her head slightly.

"It could be something important." The cinnamon-eyed female pointed out.

Sano replied. "Or it could be just the Brat coming to ruin my evening."

Just then; a fist banged on the door.

"Sano! You better open the door right now or I swear I will kick your sorry ass to the Philippines!" Came Kaoru's voice from the other side.

Sano's eyes widened and he nearly toppled to the floor in his haste to get out of the bed.

"Holy Shit! It's Jou-chan! I better answer the door before she doubles my debts."

Megumi narrowed her eyes. "Debts?"

Oops.

Sano wheeled around to his mate and gave a sheepish grin. "Err…that is I…"

Megumi scooted over to sit at the edge of the bed. "Sano…" Her voice was dark and creepy.

"Just what do you mean by debts? You wouldn't happen to have gambled while you were away…again, weren't you?"

Sano flimsily thought up of an excuse when the banging on the door went harder.

"I got to answer the door now. Wouldn't want to keep Jou-chan waiting eh?" Sano said as he pointed a thumb at the door.

Megumi merely crossed her arms and peered at him accusingly.

Sano gulped. Oh he was so in for it now.

Sano dashed to the door and pried it open. A fist connected with his face and Sano fell backwards to the ground. The next thing that the tall vampire thought was…

Wow…look at the pretty birdies.

A smug Kaoru stepped over the prone body of the vampire with Battousai following behind her. The crimson-haired hitokiri stole a glance down at his comrade and almost pitied him to have been the recipient of Kaoru's furiousness at Megumi.

Megumi sighed and stood up to grab a pack of smelting salts she usually keeps in the bedside drawer.

"This will only take a second." She told the standing pair.

Megumi got down on her knees and placed Sano's head on her lap. She opened the pack of salts; letting the smell rise up into the air.

Kaoru's hyper-sensitive nose twitched and the demon gave a sneeze. Battousai glanced at his future-mate and gave her a small smile which she returned.

Megumi, for her part, held the pack above her mate's nose and waved it around for the scent to broaden.

Sano's nose wrinkled in slight disgust at the offending smell. His lips grimaced just as he opened his brown eyes.

"Argh." He groaned as his temple pounded in pain.

"Did anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?"

"Yeah and her name's Kaoru." drawled out Kaoru as glared at the tall vampire.

Sano got up to his feet with a little help from Megumi and rubbed the sore spot on his face where she'd hit him.

"Damn, Jou-chan! That's quite an arm you have there." He commented.

Kaoru smirked. Then her eyes got darker. "Sano…what did I tell you about calling me 'Jou-chan'?" She said in a clam voice.

Sano shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know…Guess I forgot."

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "You forgot?" Her tone had a slight menacing tone to it.

Sano gulped. Oh Kami! Not even an hour apart and already he had two women up his throat.

Megumi intervened by placing herself before Sano.

"I get to hurt him first. Pick a number and stand in line." She said coolly.

Both male vampires sweatdropped at what Megumi said. Actually it was Sano who was doing the sweatdropping; Battousai had merely raised an eyebrow.

"It's alright by me as long as you leave me something behind to tear apart." Kaoru replied in the same manner.

"However, I would like to know what you put in that bottle you gave me." She continued.

Megumi merely gave her characteristic laugh.

"Ohohoho! Is this what it's all about? Not a problem. You see what I gave you is the 'Truest Passion' bottle. It's guaranteed to let out your desires."

Kaoru glowered at the other female.

"I'd figured as much but it also happens to make me lose unconcsciousness after a while, am I right?"

Megumi ignored the glare the demon threw at her and replied.

"Not really. Actually, the scent was designed for two persons who are deeply attracted to each other."

The female vampire explained. "The contents only takes effect when the two persons are in the same area."

Megumi glanced at Battousai. "That is why I hinted to you that Kaoru was depressed when I saw her after dinner and that she might make a grave mistake later on…"

Kaoru's eyes widened slightly as realization struck her. "So that's why Battousai kept saying that I was trying to commit suicide."

Megumi blinked for a moment. Then she laughed. "Is that so? Really, I didn't think he would've thought that you would be that depressed."

Megumi shook her head. "Really…Males are such gullable species."

"Hey!" voiced out two wounded male egos.

Kaoru couldn't help but give a giggle. "I know what you mean. Their minds must be tinier to make up for their muscles."

"Hey!!"

Megumi giggled as well. "I think we'll get along just fine, Kaoru."

Kaoru smiled. "So do I, Megumi."

"And even though you shouldn't have done it and that I ought to bodily harm you; I thank you. You made me realize what I truly feel for Battousai."

Megumi smirked. "Why of course I had to do it. Being a vampire myself; I know that Battousai has taken a deep interest in you. He has never done that before to any other female."

Megumi leaned down to whisper softly into Kaoru's ear.

"Remember Kaoru, a vampire is always serious when it comes to his mate. If he says that she loves you; he means it."

With his; Megumi stole a glance at Sano and her lips twitched into somewhat of a smile.

"Believe me, I should know."

Both Battousai and Sano exchanged looks before they shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads in dismay.

Females. You can never understand them. One minute; they're all readied up for a fight and then the next, they make up and become friends afterwards.

All of the sudden; Hiko's voice growled out in their minds, startling some of them.

"Everyone; to the living room."

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The Vampire Lord of Kyoto glowered at them seriously as they all sat down in the table before him.

"What is it, Lord Hiko?" asked Soujiro; adding the title for vanity's sake…and the right to irk the tall, broad-shouldered vampire.

Hiko stared at them with a grim frown etched upon his face.

"My informants from Edo have sent a message that Shishio Makoto's had formed an army of werewolves and human bounty hunters. We suspect that his long-promises of taking control over Japan is coming to form."

His dark brown eyes roamed to meet with Kaoru's sapphire-silver.

"And we also think that he's planning to attack Kyoto first and capture Kaoru; the demon child."

To be continued

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AN: Okay, I have to say that I don't like this chapter very much…