Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Samurai Wives ❯ Silence ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six- Silence

Kaoru breathed heavily as the night air pressed against her lungs painfully.

I can't breathe... She thought, flattening herself against the wall of a building. The sound of swords clashing assaulted her ears as she crumpled to the ground.

"Get up." Iizuka's voice was quiet, but his eyes never left the battle unfolding in front of them.

She pulled herself up, keeping her distance from him.

"I don't think he's going to stay in this fight... you have to be ready to run. Keep on your feet."

She shuddered and yanked her arm away from him when he set it on her. "I will." She hissed. "Don't touch me."

There was the loud screech of steel sliding down steel as Kenshin slid his sword away down Saitou's, sheathed it as he turned, and ran, seizing Kaoru's hand and darting into an alley.

Buildings flashed past, and Kaoru felt her feet pounding against the ground in time with his. Her heart thumped in fear as adrenalin hit her blood. Blood...

Kenshin was still covered in it, but he didn't seem to notice. He was dragging her through a labyrinth of streets and alleys so twisted that Kaoru had hopelessly lost her way. She stumbled on a rock, and he pulled her up before she met the ground.

"Keep running!"

She nodded numbly, turning her attention back on the street. The city was alive with sound. Screaming, swords clashing. The hammering of her feet on the ground as she ran. Why couldn't she hear Kenshin as he ran?

Suddenly, she looked around to find the buildings dissipating into dojo after dojo. She had never known that there could be so many schools... One for martial arts, but so many for swords. She felt the sudden urge to ask Kenshin which of these was his school, but suppressed it when they burst out into a field.

Her sandal caught on another stone, and she tripped, rolling down the slight decline in the ground. She could no longer summon the strength to keep running, simply laying on her back, facing the starless, moonless sky.

"I can't run anymore... If... if they come here to kill me... well... I don't care anymore... As long as I don't have to run..."

He collapsed next to her. "You don't have to... They're still in the city..."

His breathing was shallow, she realized. "Oh!" She leaped up with a sudden burst of energy. "You're still hurt..." She leaned over and prodded his shoulder gently, earning herself a pained hiss when he flinched and pulled away.

"Leave it!" He growled, pulling his arm away from her.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine! And when you bleed to death because you were too stubborn to let me treat your wound, then I'll just laugh at you."

"And be stuck with Iizuka." He shot back.

She glared at him and sunk back into the tall grass. "Where is he, anyway?"

"He's slow."

"It's not nice to talk about a man behind his back, Himura." Iizuka laughed, striding up to the two of them.

Kenshin stood. "Let's go. Where is this place we're supposed to stay?"

"I'll get you part of the way there... then you'll be able to find it on your own. Only about a day's walk from the city."

He scoffed. "Come on. Get up... We may be out of the city, but they're likely to follow us anyway."

Kaoru stumbled to her feet, her feet crying in objection. "A day's walk?"

Iizuka nodded. "And I'm only taking you halfway. I have to get back and see who else is around."

Kaoru fought back her long groan and followed the two men.

((()))

Hours later, she fell against the strong trunk of a huge tree. The young dawn was filling the sky beyond the trees that surrounded her. "How much further?" She called over to Kenshin, who was touching one of the trees gently.

Iizuka laughed, the sound grating against both her nerves and her ears. "Is the little princess getting tired?"

Unladylike words crossed her mind, and she bit her tongue to keep them from falling out. Instead, she made herself comfortable against the tree, ignoring him.

Kenshin sighed. "I'll be back." He was touching his clothes, checking where all the bloodstains were. He left them alone, and Kaoru shivered. The early morning was suddenly very cold.

She curled up, letting her eyes close. Somnolence washed over her suddenly, wiping away her exhaustion.

Seconds, moments, or perhaps hours later, her eyes snapped open. The pressure on her arm woke her, and fear flooded her veins. She opened her mouth to scream, only to have a rough hand clamped over it.

"Be quiet, girl!"

She swallowed, feeling herself growing faint.

No...I... What am I going to do? She thought fleetingly, struggling against the older man's unwavering grasp. Iizuka was strong, she could allow herself to realize. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. There was nothing she could do... Nothing...

She closed her eyes, a tear rolling down her cheek.

The rough hand was fumbling with her obi. She shuddered, feeling consciousness ebb away.

You were right, Mother, not to trust him... The thought crossed her mind as she struggled with her hands, pounding against him.

The loud swish, then thud, of steel flying through the air, and embedding itself into the tree next to them was the first sound she heard, bringing her senses crashing back.

Kenshin stood at the very edge of the clearing, the sheath of his wakizashi empty. Iizuka fell back in fear, and she stared up at the blade that was merely a few inches from her head.

Kenshin stalked over to them, drawing his katana. "What were you doing?" He hissed lowly to Iizuka, who was backing away carefully.

"Hey... don't do anything you're going to regret..." Iizuka's warning was quiet, but fearful.

Kenshin yanked his wakizashi from the trunk of the tree. "Don't worry. I won't."

"I mean it, Himura!"

Kenshin raised his katana. "You son of a-"

"She's just a woman! What does it matter?! It's not as though anyone will know, or care!"

Kenshin pressed the blade of his katana into the man's neck. "She's going to know, you slimy bastard." He left a small nick in the man's throat. "You've told me where the house is. I think it would be better if you went back to the city." He turned, sheathing both blades. "Go."

Iizuka stumbled back from the angry teen, back into the thick of the forests.

Kenshin turned his head up to Kaoru. "Are you okay?" He kneeled next to her, and she noted that his hair was wet.

She stared at him for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I... You came... before he could..." She shuddered as a sob shook her body. She screamed and cried, curling up into a tight ball.

She cried out when his hands reached over to rub her back comfortingly. He pulled away quickly, murmuring an apology. "We have to go soon..."

She nodded, pulling herself to her feet. "Why...?" She whispered.

"Why what?"

"You... would you have killed him?"

"If it wouldn't anger Katsura-san, I would have."

"Why?" She stared at him with blurry, wet eyes.

He mumbled something and motioned for her to follow. "Let's go."

She watched him as he took a couple steps, then looked back to her. "Come on... we can make it to this house by afternoon if we hurry."

His clothes were mussed, as if pulled on in a hurry. His hair was limp and wet, spread over his shoulders, untied. She had never, even after waking him, seen him so unkempt.

"Were you... bathing?" The question burst out the same instant she thought it. She clapped her hands over her mouth, cursing her tongue for moving of its own accord.

He turned around, staring at her. "Yes." He finally managed.

"What about your clothes... Were you going to wash them?"

He sighed. "Yes, I was. But there's supposed to be a change of clothes at the house. Let's just keep going."

She nodded, silent for another moment, or another hour, she couldn't tell anymore. The silence pressed against her, and she relished in it.

"Ne, Himura-san?"

"Kenshin."

"What?"

"You know what my name is. Use it."

She blinked. He was asking her to call him by... his first name?

"Ah... Kenshin..." She began slowly. "How did you know?"

There was a long pause, as though he was trying to choose his words carefully. "You screamed."

She paused, and then followed him quickly. She had begun to scream... but had been cut off... "I never got a chance to scream." She pointed out to him.

"I heard you scream." He replied evenly.

"But I'm sure I didn't."

"And I heard you scream, so I came. That's all I know, okay?"

She sighed and stared up to the sky, where noon had come and gone without her knowledge. The sounds of the world were gone, until Kenshin stopped her.

"I think we're here..."

She blinked, then stared up the incline of the hills. At the top sat a small house looking out over the mountain. She nodded and stepped onto the hill.

"Well... let's get up there then..." She muttered, suddenly aware of the dirt that stuck to her skin, and the rips in her kimono. "And can I take a bath?"

He rubbed his temple and nodded. "Sure. Whatever you want." He muttered, starting up himself.

As they reached level ground, she stared at the house. "How long are we going to be here?" She ventured.

He was watching the house with an interest that she didn't completely understand. "I don't know."

He turned, staring at her quietly, then back at the house, and back at her. His eyes were dark, but not as dark as before. The silence of the world pressed into them, isolating them, as the whole world seemed to be in chaos around them. His eyes were not as harsh anymore, and his voice didn't seem to taunt her when he spoke.

He turned to the house, then stepped toward it. "I just don't know."