Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Slumbering City ❯ Koi! ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me. If it did, the characters would probably kill me to keep the sexual tension from killing them.

AN: WARNING! More MATURE content ahead, so if you are offended by dirty talk or sexual actions skip the entire middle section of the chapter! You have been warned. Please don't use this as an excuse to read only the middle section, though.

I am playing with time again in this chapter. I put a synopsis of my actual dream at the end of this chapter for your edification. Enjoy!

Edited thanks to the scintillating Elley.

The Slumbering City

By Indygodusk

Chapter 4: Koi!

Air sparked and hissed when Kaoru broke open the seal on the crumpled envelope. It was hard to believe that less than twelve hours before she'd been fervently kissing the man she was now running away from. At least, she was trying to run away from him, whether she was successful or not remained to be seen.

Kaoru's nerves were strung so tight she feared she might break into out of control giggling or screaming at any moment. The paper bent more under her fierce grip. Heart pounding with anxiety, she read the name she must speak, the name that would be the means of her escape, the name Megumi had painstakingly inked after warning Kaoru to use it only in the direst of emergencies. Kaoru read the name from the envelope silently. Then she laughed out loud.

Placing a hand over her lips to muffle her snickers, she glanced around to see if anyone had heard her slightly hysterical outburst. She hadn't meant to laugh; she was just so surprised to see that name after all of Megumi's crabby comments. The morning sun reflected blindingly off of the white stone driveway of the Battousai estate. It seemed to be nearly empty. The only person in sight was the gate guard and he faced the other direction.

Taking a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm down, Kaoru knew she had to stop dawdling or else risk getting caught and hauled back inside. Clearing her throat, she quietly read the words on the card out loud, “Take me to Sagara Sanosuke.”

A warm mist poured from the card and engulfed her body. She felt herself becoming fog. Limbs merged into a single pillar of glistening gray and started to drift away on the breeze. But then something searingly hot caught at the soles of her feet, locking her to the ground. Pulling and twisting her legs with all of her might, she freed one foot. By this time the guard at the gate had noticed something and was yelling into his radio. Scraping her free toe against the heel of her bound shoe frantically, she managed to pry her other foot out, leaving her shoe stuck in the spell meant to prevent her escape.

Cinderella has left the building, she exulted as her body streamed away into the city. That thought was quickly followed by the depressing realization of how utterly unlikely she was to find a happily ever after. She didn't want the prince to search house to house for his lost love. As a matter of fact, she hoped he never found her shoe in the first place.

Besides which, on the flip side of that saying, didn't Elvis, that famous singer from overseas, die from overdosing on drugs because the pressure of fame was too much? Kaoru just wasn't cut out to be a princess or a public figure. Maybe she could help heal the city and wake up the outer sections from afar, but as much as she was drawn to Kenshin, she couldn't stay here and be what he wanted. She'd told him she was a private person!

Best case fairytale scenario had Kenshin becoming a turnip farmer or stock broker in some isolated cabin where she could fortuitously find him, marry him, and then live comfortably together with him without things like pesky parades getting in their way.

Why couldn't Kenshin have been content with kissing her in Megumi's apartment? That kiss, and the things that had followed, had been pretty darn sizzling in Kaoru's book. But no, the flame-haired hunk had to ruin it by insisting on a big public presentation.

As she phased through the indistinct shapes of buildings, trees, and people, Kaoru found her mind drifting to memories of the night before.

Purring into Kenshin's mouth, she splayed her fingers against the smooth skin between his shoulder blades. His lips left her mouth and trailed kisses across her face and down her arched throat. Kaoru felt herself melting into his hard body as she became consumed by his golden fire.

His teeth scraped across the cords of her throat, nibbling up and down, up and down, going farther with each cycle until his lips reached the shell of her ear and lingered. Tilting her head back to give him better access, Kaoru combed her fingers down his back, circling with her thumb any patch of skin that caught her fancy.

A hot tongue curled around her earlobe. Then Kenshin leaned back slightly and blew into her ear. Kaoru gasped and jerked in surprise, digging her fingers into his muscled back.

“Ah koi, where else are you sensitive?” he laughed huskily.

Kenshin's hands massaged her lower back, gathering and twisting her blue satin robe, winding it round and round his fist until the edges tugged out from between their bodies and pulled tight beneath her arms, baring the skin of her stomach and sides. The calloused pad of his thumb, the only part of his hands still unbound, rasped over the naked skin of her side in contrast to the slide of his satin-wrapped knuckles. An involuntary purr escaped her throat and she bit her lip.

Kenshin whispered into her ear, “Don't… you'll damage your perfect, kissable lips. From now on, let me do the nibbling.” Velvet lips left her earlobe and traveled over her cheekbones. “And the biting,” he kissed her cheek and moved to nip the tip of her nose, “and the licking.” He hovered over her eagerly parted lips.

In the dark she could barely make out the predatory yellow-gold gleam in his eyes. The lack of vision amplified her other senses, allowing his words to slither into her ears and straight down to her center. “When I slide into you,” he breathed against her lips, “hot and tight, you are going to scream your pleasure. Again and again. I'm going to memorize every pant, moan, and sigh I wring from your lips until I can bring you to the brink with a single touch… or keep you straddling it for hours and hours,” the hand at her back pulled her tight against his hips. “You'll be too sore to walk, too hoarse to talk… and you will love it. You will love me.” Hot breath flowed over her aching lips.

A whimper escaped Kaoru's throat. She saw Kenshin's eyes smile right before he allowed his mouth to finally touch hers, thrusting his tongue between her lips and plundering her mouth. Her head spun from his words and her body ached for his touch, throbbing in time to the hard strokes of his tongue. The feel of magic still buzzed and tingled just beneath the surface of her skin, straddling the border between pleasure and pain where it all merged into sensation, adding another dimension to his kiss.

Freeing his hand from her robe, he slid his fingers beneath her waistband at her back and slid them towards her stomach. A soft rip sounded as Kaoru grabbed Kenshin's shirt too fiercely and something tore. The buttons on his shirt dug into her stomach, but she didn't care.

His lips left hers again to shower her face with kisses. Moist lips jumped to her collarbone and his teeth nipped against her skin. She gasped at the sting and tugged his shirt again, ripping it more.

Interspersed between scattered kisses, he began whispering endearments and promises. Too caught up in the sensations, Kaoru couldn't understand more than one in three. When she heard the word “crowd,” however, she forced herself to listen more closely. Interspersed with his worshipful and lustful comments were promises to present her to the entire city, to throw her lavish parties and parades, and to mark her in a way that would show the entire world who she belonged to. “Crowds will come to marvel at your power and beauty,” he murmured, “hordes of servants will cater to your every whim.”

Kaoru felt like a bucket of ice water had been splashed in her face and the ice shards had sliced away her feelings of euphoria and bliss. “No,” she refused hoarsely.

Kenshin didn't seem to hear her. His fingers unbuttoned her jeans, his lips kissed along her jaw, and Kaoru felt herself sliding back into that warm pool of lust and longing.

But then she thought of his words on surrounding her with crowds and hordes, of presenting her to the entire city. She thought about how she'd never even met him before tonight. Panic lent her strength. “No!” she pushed with both her body and mind, and a flare of power from their clasped hands blew him back across the room.

Snarling, Kenshin bounded up into a crouch. Violence pulsed like a heartbeat in his glowing eyes as gold flickered with scarlet. “Why do you deny me?” he roared. The building shook. While she'd been distracted by his kisses, the full moon had risen outside and now flooded the apartment with silvery light.

“Because I'm scared, dammit!” Kaoru yelled back. She hated being scared, she hated being trapped, and she hated to swear! Look at what this man has reduced me to, she thought with anger and frustration.

Turning away from her in the moonlit room, Kenshin swore and punched a hole in Megumi's pristine eggshell white wallpaper. As if it really had been as fragile as eggshell, large cracks from the crater raced across the wall in all directions and broken pieces fell off onto the carpet below. Removing his hand, he shook pale paint chips and plaster from his tanned forearm and fingers.

Kaoru tried to muster up some anger over the destruction of Megumi's apartment, but the waves of apprehension and fear were stronger. Why did she trust to Kenshin's promise to protect her? What made her think he was mild-mannered at heart and wouldn't just as easily break her neck with a flick of his fingers?

Not tame! Remember the mountain lion? They aren't called predators for no good reason.

“Lord Battousai. Ke- Kenshin,” she stuttered out, “please calm down.”

Leaning forward, Kenshin closed his eyes and placed his forehead and clenched fists against the ruined wall. For almost a minute he stood there in tense silence, a shadowy figure the moonlight seemed to avoid, as if it too feared disturbing him and reawakening his wrath.

Kaoru wrapped her robe and arms around herself and shivered. She was so confused. Part of her wanted to sprint to the door and flee while she had the chance, but another, softer part wanted to step forward and place her hand soothingly on his tense shoulder. Wood creaked softly under her feet when she shifted her weight, indecisive.

Finally Kenshin spoke, shattering the silence. “That I am dangerous, I do not deny. Being with me will change your life,” he turned away from the wall and faced her, allowing the moonlight access to his form. The spill of light from the window cast half his face in silver and the other half in shadow, like a metallic domino mask in some dark masquerade. “It does not necessarily follow that it must be a bad change. I want to protect you, be your companion, borrow your strength to heal my city, and bring you joy. Some of those wants are selfish, but not all. You stand to gain as well.”

Reaching forward, he grabbed her hand insistently and gazed into her eyes. “I am not inflexible. Is that what you fear?” The flashes of red in his expression had sunk back beneath the surface, leaving only bronze and copper triangles twirling through the field of gold. This close she could see obscure shapes undulating through the whites of his eyes.

His gaze demanded truth, but how to explain? “No, not exactly,” she temporized. “I don't object to healing the city with this power you say I have, though I hope you realize I don't know how to use it,” she warned.

Kenshin took another step forward, casting his entire face into shadow. Yet somehow, that made her next words easier to say. “Nor do I object to you, though my mind protests that we've just met.” She paused to wet her suddenly dry lips. “It is the future that I fear. You have this perfect idea of what I will do, how I will be. But I'm not perfect, Kenshin. And while I recognize you, and find that you do seem to fit into the puzzle pieces of my being quite seamlessly, I don't completely know you. Nor do you completely know me.”

Kenshin moved as if to voice a protest, but Kaoru spoke over whatever he might have said. “There are nuances here that the magic can't completely convey. Problems that we can't overcome,” problems you'd scorn me for. “I'm a private person. I don't like or want the city knowing my intimate concerns. You are the city's intimate concern.”

“Koi,” Kenshin began to argue, but Kaoru cut him off again. If she must be slippery as a fish, eluding his grasp and swimming away from his words, than so be it.

“My Lord Battousai,” she said formally, stepping back and slipping free her hand. She couldn't see his face, but the very air tightened with his frown. “Please. We should clean up Megumi's apartment before she comes back.”

After a moment of charged silence he responded, “Very well.” His voice was surprisingly even. “But there are shards of glass all over the floor. Let me take care of it. You should sit.” It was a simple enough request to obey compared to his previous demands. Besides, Kaoru had taken her shoes off when she had entered the apartment. Kenshin, who had pushed his way in uninvited past Megumi, still wore his.

Thinking that he had given up on his other demands very gracefully, Kaoru felt a pang of sad regret. Recognizing it for what it was, she mentally smashed it down into a bit of goop and locked it in a steel enforced box deep within her mind. This was what I wanted, wasn't it? Shaking such thoughts out of her head, she met his eyes.

“The broom and dustpan are in the kitchen behind the door, I think,” Kaoru offered. Not wanting to cut up her feet, she moved carefully to the center of the room and sank down to sit on a cushioned footrest positioned in front of Megumi's cream-colored leather recliner. “I'm not sure where the new light bulbs are, though.”

For some reason, Kenshin seemed to be pacing around the living room instead of going to look for the necessary equipment. At random places he would stop and touch the wall or floor with his fingertips. Unable to just sit quietly, Kaoru brought her hair over her shoulder and began combing her fingers through it.

“Ah,” Kenshin let out a sigh of satisfaction. Then he slapped the wall he stood next to. In the silence the sound reverberated throughout the apartment. Out of nowhere a tornado exploded into existence. Over the roar of the wind he shouted something that boomed and echoed. The tornado disappeared. In its place remained large holes in the floor and ceiling of Megumi's apartment.

“Oh, that went well,” Kaoru commented sarcastically. “What's wrong with just using a broom? Why must men always insist on taking shortcuts-?”

Before she could continue her criticism, a beam of leaf green light connected the two holes. More bars of light appeared between the tornado holes and the spots Kenshin had touched on the walls. They formed a leaf green geodesic dome. The light touched Kaoru and made her think of spring, when baby shoots unfurled into flowers and leaves. Sunlight perfumed the air. Each second that passed increased the intensity of the light until Kaoru had to squint and cover her eyes. She heard the rustle of leaves moved by wind and then the light of spring disappeared.

Opening her eyes, she saw the pristine walls of Megumi's apartment restored. Light bulbs glowed cheerily from their sockets and even the hazelnut chocolate splatters on the white carpet that Kaoru had noticed while crawling around looking for the sash to her robe had disappeared.

Wide eyed, she inhaled the lingering scent of sunlight and noticed an extra door had appeared in the apartment. Looking through the open doorway, she guessed it to be an extra guest bedroom. Kaoru somehow knew that the building had magically adjusted itself to meet its' tenant's needs. Since Megumi had a guest, she needed an extra bedroom.

Unable to keep from smiling in delight, Kaoru turned to Kenshin. “That,” he said arrogantly, “is what is wrong with just using a broom. This is the way the buildings are supposed to be like when they are awake. Over the years too many have fallen asleep. With your help,” he smiled into her eyes, “we'll wake them all back up.”

“Huh,” Kaoru replied intelligently. She had definitely been underestimating the appeal of magic all these years. Could magic be used to cook, too?

In the now well-lit room, Kaoru noticed that the hem of Kenshin's white shirt was untucked and ripped, with the bottom two buttons popped off. Two guesses whose fault that was, and the tornado doesn't count, she thought in embarrassment. Her combing fingers got caught in a snarl in her hair and she used that as an excuse to take her eyes off of his torn clothing. Extracting her fingers, she started picking the knot apart.

“Kaoru,” Kenshin asked, “Where is your brush?”

“It was in the right pocket of my suitcase before someone made my suitcase disappear. Why?” Kaoru replied in a calm tone that tried and failed to be snide as she looked up from her tangled black hair. Just like before, the magic's sunlight scent made negative feelings hard to maintain.

Crouching on his heels, Kenshin was rifling through the contents of her suitcase. It sat on the floor of the living room right where she had left it earlier that day. “I could very happily hit you,” Kaoru scowled. Her lips, however, refused to stay down and quickly drifted up into an almost smile.

“How long is this stupid magic going to keep me cheerful?” Kaoru asked in a calm bordering on merry tone of voice, “because it's really pissing me off.”

Kenshin laughed from deep in his throat. Every time he had laughed tonight, Kaoru had gotten the sense that his laughter was almost a surprise to him, as if he wasn't used to being amused or was too used to being sad. It made her want to provoke his laughter more often. If she could just figure out how to get him to laugh intentionally, especially without embarrassing herself in the process, it would be perfect.

“Koi, you are delightful,” he complimented as he stood up with her brush in hand and moved behind her to sit on the cream-colored leather recliner. She twisted to follow his movements. He was up to something.

The devastating combination of the cream leather framing Kenshin's red hair, tan skin, and golden eyes made Kaoru's heart catch in her chest. His almost delicate features were saved from femininity only by his strong lips and determined chin. Either way, he was the most dangerously attractive man she had ever seen.

“Turn around,” Kenshin ordered.

“Why,” she asked suspiciously.

“You already know that I do bite, so what else is there to fear?” he asked. Kaoru wasn't sure if he was serious or not.

Chewing on her lip, she tilted her head and studied his expression. Before she could do more than bite down once, he reached out and inserted his finger between her teeth. “No biting, remember?” he chided gently. It took considerable self-control to keep from either biting his finger off or licking it invitingly.

Before she could decide one way or the other, he placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her so that she was once again facing forward. Then he scooted the footrest she sat on backwards until it was between his knees. Her traitorous body tried to sprawl back against his warm skin, but she resisted, sitting tensely upright. His fingers reached over her shoulders and gathered her hair behind her back.

A pause, and then he took a handful of her hair in one hand and started brushing it. The bristles scraped down her back pleasantly. Despite her best efforts, she felt herself relaxing against his warm legs.

Slowly and methodically the brush moved through her hair, followed by his fingers smoothing through the strands. When it reached her scalp he paused for countless moments, giving her a soothing head massage. Then the scrape of the brush and fingers resumed. Her head nodded forward blissfully. She was a puddle of slumberous delight.

Each cycle of the brush from top to bottom caught slightly at the collar of her robe. She only noticed it distantly because the interruption of the stroke had stopped. Warm hands had slipped her robe off her shoulders to puddle at her waist and wrists. The change began to rouse her from her complaisance. But then the brushing started again.

All too easily, the gentle scratching of the brush combined with the caress of his calloused fingers down the bare skin of her back to calm her mind. Eyes half-lidded, Kaoru couldn't even find the energy to hum contentedly. She was that relaxed.

Now the combing strokes began catching slightly between her shoulder blades. Thoughts moving like cold molasses, Kaoru slowly identified the cause… bra. Question answered, she allowed her mind to sink again beneath the soothing waves of relaxation. The pleasure giving fingers traced up and down her back, then along her bra strap. Nimble fingers released the catch, slipping it down her arms to join the robe. Somnolent, she didn't think to protest as long as the combing continued. It did. Time ceased to have meaning, and her eyes slipped close.

“Kaoru,” a masculine voice echoed in the corridor to her dreams. “Koi?”

“Hmm?” she roused herself enough to answer; opening her eyes was out of the question.

“Do you know me?”

“Mm… hmm,” she answered affirmatively. Forming actual words was too much effort.

“I need you to say my name, koi,” the voice demanded gently.

Eyes still closed, she murmured, “Ken… shi….”

“Good enough,” the voice praised. “Do you want me?”

Kaoru scrunched her brow and burrowed into the warm shape beneath her cheek. “Wanna sleep,” she grumbled. She felt her pillow move as a warm sigh ruffled her bangs.

“Perhaps I should have tried something else, but you are so stubborn, my love,” the voice mused to itself. Kaoru felt like she should have paid attention, but she was too tired to try and understand the words. She'd worry about it tomorrow.

“Kaoru,” her pillow jiggled her slightly, “do you want Kenshin to stay with you?”

“Yes, stay,” she muttered. Why wouldn't he let her sleep? Something outside of her suddenly felt happy. It made her smile sleepily.

“Then take me, Kaoru. Mark my flesh with your bond, koi, and make us one forever.” Fingers grasped her chin and pried her mouth open. Something warm, coppery, and piquant slid onto her tongue. The man chanted something she couldn't understand, and then she felt a window in her mind open. Something streamed out, and then she felt something crawl inside and curl up on the windowsill of her soul. Her mouth opened wider in visceral response and drank deeper of the tangy fluid. Feeling a happy purr coming from inside, a purr that didn't belong to her, she managed to pry her heavy eyelids open.

The first thing she saw was Kenshin's face. It blazed with emotion, a triumphant conflagration. She was on the couch and reclining in his lap with her head resting in the crook of his arm. Her lips were locked around his wrist, drinking what she now identified as blood. Taking one, or two or three, final licks, she forced herself to release his wrist. She should be disgusted. Instead, she wanted to run her tongue along her teeth and lips to catch any stray drops. This didn't seem real.

“Now for your mark,” Kenshin smiled possessively. “I've been trying to figure out the best place. I know you want this to be… private, and I think I've finally thought of the perfect spot for it.”

Kaoru's mind was still groggy, but looking down, she rapidly started to wake up. “Kenshi', why `m I naked?” she asked with as much alarm as her foggy mind could muster.

“I had to consider my canvass,” he smirked. “Besides, you aren't completely naked, koi. Once I saw your underwear, I couldn't bear to part with them just yet. Considering that delectable black bra, I never would have guessed you were wearing white cotton panties with goldfish on them.” Kaoru blushed and tried to struggle out of his arms, but he held her fast. “No wonder your mind jumped to fish when I first called you koi.”

Keeping her effortlessly in place, he brought his bloody wrist to his mouth and licked it clean. Then he smiled. It wasn't a comforting look. It was hungry.

“Do you feel the unfinished magic between us? Can you feel your soul begging mine to complete the bond?”

Opening her mouth, Kaoru tried to growl out an emphatic `no!' Instead, the word, “Yes,” rasped out. Traitor, her almost alert mind whimpered. Despite its feeble protests, it knew a sinking ship when it saw one.

While she'd been arguing with herself, Kenshin had laid her down on the couch and kneeled down between her legs. Her breath caught in her throat as his hands rubbed up and down on the inside of her thighs. “What are you doing?” Kaoru asked as she reared up on one elbow, the other covering her chest in a pitiful attempt at modesty.

“Marking you somewhere private, just like you asked,” he answered throatily with his yellow, mountain lion eyes. At that moment, the panicky part of Kaoru wanted to jump up and run out of the apartment screaming, even if she was only wearing her goldfish panties. But she couldn't. Maybe he'd hypnotized her, maybe her body had decided that the battle was already lost, or maybe the secret part of her that wanted this had actually won.

Whatever it was, it kept her from protesting as his mouth moved lower and lower in the air. The entire time his yellow eyes stayed locked on hers. He only broke the gaze when his lips kissed down onto her left knee. Slowly his mouth and tongue traveled up her thigh, circling closer and closer to her center without ever touching.

Kaoru panted and dug her fingers into the cushions of the couch. The hands at her knees pressed her legs open wider and she felt more than heard his lips chant something against the skin of her inner thigh. She tensed and only had a scant moment to wonder before he struck.

Sharp teeth bit down on her femoral artery in the junction where hip met thigh. Pain flooded her body as she reared up with an angry gasp. Then his lips and tongue started working the bleeding wound. Instead of aggravating the agony, it soothed and transmuted the pain to pleasure.

Heat built and she tasted flames on the back of her tongue. The window in her mind became a clear glass corridor connecting their magic and souls. Heat built upon heat, pleasure upon pleasure, until the feeling became overwhelming, like the sensation of sucking on a copper coin, and she had to do something before she went mad. Muscles clenched, her back arched, and everything exploded out in ripples of light.

When she could breathe again, she opened her eyes and looked down. Kenshin was sprawled over her legs with his cheek resting on her thigh. He looked sated and content, like a cat that had fallen into a bucket of cream sprinkled with catnip.

“And just think, that was only the marking,” he drawled. “Just wait until we actually have sex.” He rolled his head and kissed her thigh lightly. “Do you think we'll survive?”

As Kaoru tried to think of an appropriate reply, she started to feel light-headed. “I think I'm going to pass out,” she informed him thickly. Then she did.

When she opened her eyes again, it was to a room brilliant with morning sunlight. Gauzy white curtains swayed in a gentle breeze. On a chair across from her bed were her folded jeans from the night before and an unfamiliar shirt that looked like it belonged to a man.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. An unfamiliar ache made itself known between her legs. We didn't have sex last night, did we? I never agreed to that! How can I not remember having sex? Kaoru thought in panic. Throwing off the sheet, she looked down anxiously. The goldfish on her panties grinned back cheerfully.

The ache came from the spot where her hip met her thigh, the place where Kenshin had marked her. In the light of morning it looked more like an intricate tattoo than a bite mark. It also looked almost healed. Unsure how she felt about his mark or the fact that he had tricked her into marking him first, Kaoru decided to get dressed and think about it later.

Sliding out of bed, she put on her old jeans, her black, jasmine embroidered bra, and a white dress shirt that she assumed to be Kenshin's. If the man can find my brush in my luggage, why couldn't he find clean clothes too, she rolled her eyes.

In the pocket of her jeans she felt something crinkling. Putting her hand in her pocket, she fingered the envelope Megumi had given her when she'd first come to the city. What had Megumi said? Use only if in extreme danger and you have no other way to escape. Why Megumi would think it was something Kaoru would actually need was beyond her. It was some sort of magic that would whisk her away, that was all Kaoru could understand of it. Kenshin could probably explain it better.

Searching under the chair, Kaoru managed to find her socks and shoes. I guess he's not completely hopeless. Beneath all of her clothing she'd also found a small wooden box. She wanted to be fully dressed before she opened it. On top of the small box was an envelope made of hand-pressed paper. Her name was written on it in beautiful penmanship. Unable to find her comb to straighten her hair, perhaps a privilege Kenshin is reserving for himself, she thought with mixed emotions, Kaoru picked up the envelope and broke the seal.

Inside was a heavy piece of paper containing only one sentence in a bold and slanting script, `So you don't forget.' Smiling quizzically, she picked up the wooden box and lifted the lid. Inside on a blue satin pillow rested a golden pendant. It was in the shape of a leaping fish - a koi. Kaoru laughed. Extracting the simple but elegant chain from the box, she fastened it around her neck.

Deciding that breakfast was now in order, she moved toward the door. When she'd opened it only a crack, however, she heard voices talking. Quickly freezing in place, Kaoru decided to eavesdrop.

“Still,” a female voice said, “I'd have loved to see Shinomori actually turn white.”

“But Omasu,” the other voice protested, “that would have meant actually seeing Lord Battousai in a rage! I, for one, never want to experience that first hand.”

“Isn't that the truth,” Omasu replied fervently. “I guess we're lucky Shinomori didn't send us to inform Lord Battousai about the missing girl and the break in. It's sort of creepy how he can just sense changes in the estate and city sometimes, even if he's miles and miles away. Do you ever wonder what else he can sense that we don't know about?”

“When it comes to our Lord, some things we're better off not knowing. All I need to know is that he found our city's salvation with it. I heard he just stood up in the middle of someone's talk and stormed out of that conference, willing to brave anything for love. Can't you just picture it?” Both women sighed wistfully.

“Hey Okon, do you know what having a new lady means?”

Okon laughed delightedly. “Parties! People are going to come from miles around just to meet her. There will have to be a huge wedding with the entire city in attendance and then a big celebration. Nothing less for the Lord Battousai.”

“What a crush that'll be,” Omasu sighed rapturously.

“And that lucky girl will have to be the center of the founders' day parade, with thousands of people taking her picture and trying to get her autograph. I bet she's so glamorous!”

“Oh I'm so jealous. Do you think she's awake yet?”

Closing the door soundlessly and turning the lock, Kaoru felt her pulse fluttering in her throat like a trapped bird. Be at the center of a parade with thousands of people? She'd be killed! It'd be a crush all right. A crush because she'd be crushed to death by all of those people! She had to get away, had to escape. She couldn't do this, couldn't be Kenshin's Lady, no matter how wonderful he was. Hyperventilating, Kaoru saw black spots start to swim before her eyes. Collapsing into a chair, she put her head between her knees until her breathing slowed down.

As soon as her vision cleared, she jumped up and looked out the window. It was too high up to jump out without breaking her legs. Gaze darting around nervously, she decided to try using magic on the house. After all, it had worked last time, right?

Putting her hand on the wall, Kaoru pushed with those muscles in her mind she'd only discovered yesterday and said, “I need to get outside without anyone knowing.”

Grasping the doorknob that appeared magically below her hand, she descended the staircase behind it. Jogging down several dark tunnels to the chant of `crowd of thousands, what a crush,' echoing in her head, she finally opened the door that led outside. Stepping through, she found herself standing in the driveway. As soon as her hand left the wood of the door, it faded back into the wall. No sign of her passage remained.

Fishing around in her pocket, Kaoru pulled out the crumpled envelope from Megumi. Despite her panicky need to escape, she couldn't help rolling her eyes again at the threat inked below the seal:

This is expensive magic, so only open and use if in imminent danger and you are absolutely sureI cannot be reached. If you can get a hold of me, but use this emergency escape anyway, I will not be pleased! I will make good on that threat to tattoo lascivious come-ons on your bicep, such as, `I love popsicles, bananas, and bad men who bite.' But if you need help, break the seal and read the name inside.

Love, Megumi.

Breaking the seal, Kaoru quietly read the words on the card out loud, “Take me to Sagara Sanosuke.” A warm mist poured from the card and engulfed her body. She felt herself becoming fog.

Poor Mr. Shinomori. I hope Kenshin doesn't give him too much trouble over my second escape, she thought distantly as she streamed away into the city.

Chills rippled through her mind as the traveling fog condensed back into her body, minus one shoe. Blowing her bangs out of her face, Kaoru prepared to explain to Megumi's Sano just who she was and why she was here. As soon as she figured out where here was. At the moment she was facing a small window set in a wall that looked freshly painted olive green. It matched well with the cherry wood table next to the window.

Turning about, she felt her jaw drop. The green did not match the ratty orange sofa in the center of the room. At all. However, the paint did look identical to the olive green sheet wrapped around Megumi's torso, the only thing Kaoru's best friend seemed to be wearing. It also perfectly complimented the mauve color of several impressive hickies adorning Megumi's pale neck. From what Kaoru could see of the man standing behind the couch, and as he didn't seem to be wearing anything but a fuzzy orange pillow from the couch she could see quite a lot, she assumed he was Sanosuke.

He really does have rooster hair. Despite the gravity of the situation, she felt her lips twitching in amusement. That ratty orange pillow really was the ugliest thing she had ever seen. Her eyes kept wanting to stray south. Because of the pillow, of course, and not any other possible reason.

Turning to look at Megumi as a slightly safer sight, Kaoru had to bite her lip at Megumi's mussed hair and general state of dishabille. Megumi's surprised face was fluctuating between concern and mortification. It made Kaoru wish wistfully for a camera.

“Hi, and ah… help?” Kaoru said.

At her words, Megumi's gaze sharpened. “Sano, get dressed,” she barked without looking away from Kaoru.

“Nice ta meet ya', Jou-chan. Sagara Sanosuke at yer service,” Sano drawled, though a faint tint of red on his cheekbones belied his apparent ease. “The fox told me she bought ya' a translocation spell jus' in case you got in trouble. Whatever the problem is, me and the wife'll fix it.”

“Sano,” said Megumi in an angry and exasperated tone of voice, “if you are still standing there naked in front of my best friend wearing only a pillow, I. Will. Not. Be. Happy. Understand?”
A mischievous smirk appeared on Sano's face. “Aw, come on now, fox. There's more than enough of me to go around. Besides, weren't you just saying how you wanted to put me through my paces?” Megumi twirled around with her mouth open in outrage, but before she could start her tirade Sano leapt backwards into the bedroom and slammed the door.

“Wife?” Kaoru asked in confusion.

Megumi stiffened and slowly turned back around. “I wasn't quite sure how to tell you,” she explained apologetically. “I still hadn't decided if I was going to stay with the idiot or not.”

At a loss, and not a little hurt, Kaoru asked, “How long?”

Crossing her arms over her sheet-clad chest, Megumi replied, “Three weeks.”

“Three weeks!” Kaoru yelled angrily. Thinking back, she tried to remember what Megumi had told her about that weekend. “Wait… was that the weekend you got drunk and claimed you couldn't remember anything the next morning?”

“Yes,” Megumi sighed. “Except I wasn't quite drunk enough to forget marrying Sano, I was just drunk enough to forget why in heavens name I accepted his proposal. If I couldn't explain it to myself, how was I to explain it to you?” Her voice turned slightly pleading. “Sano and I talked it over some last night, and I swear I was going to tell you the next time I saw you.”

Kaoru could never resist Megumi's look of vulnerable pleading. It happened so rarely. Chewing on her lip, Kaoru decided to forgive her best friend. Besides which, teasing Megumi was always more fun than being mad at Megumi.

Looking again at the evidence of what Megumi had been doing the night before, Kaoru had to struggled to keep her face straight as she asked, “Well, I guess you found a use for the `useless rooster-head' after all, hmm? I guess he likes playing doctor too.” Megumi started sputtering. “I'm sure he loved tutoring you on your anatomy homework. And did he kiss your boo-boos better?” A snort escaped Kaoru, despite her best efforts.

Megumi straightened and tossed her hair back. “Did Lord Battousai kiss yours?”

A rush of heat flooded Kaoru's body as a sudden sensory memory assaulted her of Kenshin kissing up her thigh and laving his mark soothingly with his tongue. “That was a low blow,” Kaoru gasped out.

Sano rushed out of the bedroom in a pair of worn denims, top button still undone, and a ripped up t-shirt mere seconds later. “So what happened, Jou-chan? He didn't hurt you did he?” Knuckles cracked as Sano clenched his fists threateningly.

“No no, Kenshin would never hurt me,” Kaoru was quick to reassure.

`Kenshin?' mouthed Megumi with an arched eyebrow.

“You see, it's just that-” before Kaoru could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a loud snap. Then the new coat of paint on the wall suddenly became riddled with a spider's web of cracks. The crackling was soon followed by a growling rumble as the entire building began to shake.

“Earthquake!” yelled Sano as he vaulted the couch and forced Megumi under the protection of his broad chest in the kitchen doorway. Kaoru, on the other side of the room, fell back against the wall and curled her arms around her head. Silently she prayed that the window would remain intact. Despite the ominous creaking of the light fixture over their heads, nothing broke or fell.

Under the rumbling noise Kaoru felt like she could almost hear a voice. Focusing on that feeling, she barely noticed when the tremors started to slow. The words were indistinguishable at first. Slowly they resolved into the repetition of a word, one the last twelve hours had made her intimately familiar with.

Suddenly, she felt warm and moist phantom breaths puffing against the skin below her left ear. Looking back, she shakily confirmed that no one was there. Just the olive green wall. Yet she could feel it, could feel him standing behind her in Sano's apartment.

“Koi,” a ghostly voice commanded, caressed, growled in her ear. “Koi!” it shouted. Then the building became still.

Dust, sparkling like glitter in the sunlight, sifted through the air in the now silent room. Bringing trembling fingers to the pendant around her neck, Kaoru touched warm gold and remembered the other meanings of koi besides carp and love. Koi was also a command to come.

TO BE CONTINUED

Dictionary:

Koi - Depending on the kanji used it can mean: carp - a fish found in ornamental ponds; love or tender passion; the command form of the verb kuru - to come; (and a bunch of other things that aren't used here… yet.)

Author Notes: Indygodusk's real dream (So don't expect coherency) - I was at a friend's house visiting and had gotten spotted and claimed by some lord. She was sneaky and used an obscure law to get me out of it. We hoped I was safe, but then at her house we heard a knock on the door. I was only in pants, bra, and a bathrobe that was slick so the ties wouldn't stay knotted. Answer door to servant, who push his way in very politely. He's very attractive. Deliver letter. We read and it about claiming me and looking forward to our sexual interlude. Something about having me on a couch with his tongue (censored) as a promise. We freak out. Then friend gets legalese idea and says something to the effect that I already belong to her and fulfill that function, so I can't be claimed by another. Then she grabs me by my bathrobe and kisses me hard. I'm shocked. Ties come loose again and fall off. She releases me and marches over to the servant. Tells him to come and that they are going to go argue about it… or was it she was going to sleep with the lord in my place? Anyway, she storms out with the servant on her heels and I hear the lock click. I'm frozen in place still. The servant walks back into the room. He doesn't look subservient anymore. He looks dangerous. I have epiphany that he's not a servant, he is the master. I stumble back, close my robe, and wrap arms around myself. He is very calm, walks unhurriedly around the apartment, checking it out. I realize/he lets me know that it is inevitable and will happen. I go splash my face with cold water to brace me/wake me up out of my shock. Water makes the hair at my temples curl into ringlets as it dries. He asks me to come and sit by him on the couch. I'm nervous and finger combing my hair. He relaxed and reading legal document that my friend was drawing up to save me. He compliments it. Asks me to grab my brush, and when I do I pulls me down to the couch and starts brushing my hair. I try to stay tense, but it relaxes me, starts putting me to sleep. He slides my robe off my shoulders unresistingly. As he combs the bristles keep getting caught on my bra strap, so he unsnaps it and I, somnolent, don't even think to protest.

Then I woke up. :(

Did anyone catch the way I started each chapter with one of the four elements? Prolly not, sigh. Is the time jumping too confusing, or do you like it? Does it add tension to the chapter or just annoyance? Oh, and I thought of the femoral artery mark before reading The End of Days, so it wasn't a copy! Also, Kenshin is NOT a vampire. It is just that blood equates to power. I think for my next story I need to experiment with another narration style. Everything I've done up to date has been third person limited POV. But change is difficult! I also backslid in this chapter into my former bad obsessive slow writing/editing habits that this story is an attempt to break myself of. Woe! I got a haircut this week which I'm still coming to terms with. My waist-length hair is now only to my shoulder blades and full of layers. So short! For me at least. But I now have, according to a friend, style and movement. I think I like it. I'm now inspired to institute another poll ala Hakama Dake.

Please review and let me know specifics you liked/disliked. Was it sexy enough for ya or too much information? Thanks!