Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ will to live ❯ chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters and I never will.

Author's notes: This is the second chapter in my first Rurouni Kenshin story. This chapter will be taking place in Yahiko's P.O.V. R&R if you want because I don't care too much if you don't. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy!

"speech"

`thoughts'

Last Chapter:

Yahiko stared at his ceiling that night, desperately trying to fall asleep. He felt relieved when his eyelids became heavy enough to drop. However, unknown to him, his night would be plagued by memories of the past.

Will To Live

With sweat dripping off his face, Yahiko continue to sprint down the halls of the inn bellowing out her name. "KAORU!!!! KAORU!!!!" He stopped at another room, threw open the door and allowed his eyes to dart through the room looking for any people who had not yet evacuated the inn. When he saw no one he turned around to search the other rooms down the hall. He reached the room closest to the stairs and knew immediately that someone was inside. His right hand tighten on his bokken as his left tighten on the katana he was carrying. He threw his bokken in the air, slid open the door, caught his bokken and rushed into the room as he had done so many times before. Yahiko searched the room and found what he was looking for.

A mousy looking man was desperately shoving all of his belongings into a sack and several other items that belonged to the inn.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Yahiko was fed up. Kaoru had ordered him to evacuate the inn of all of the people, forcibly if necessary, and this mousy little bastard had the nerve to run back to the room even after Yahiko had ordered him to leave.

"I paid good money for this room and just because some kid with a katana orders me to leave doesn't mean I'm leavin' without my shit!" His nasally little voice only served to anger Yahiko more.

"You're a stupid fucking moron." Yahiko rushed the man, slammed him with his shoulder and sent the little prick flying across the floor. "I sure as hell didn't run to all the rooms twice only to be stopped by some asshole like you!" He was feeling ready to leave the man in the room to let the men who were attacking the inn deal with him but then he closed his eyes and remembered what Kaoru had told him…

Yahiko had dragged himself into his room at the inn and collapsed onto his futon. His chest was heaving, his muscles felt like they were on fire and he couldn't remember when his body ached so much but he had never felt so proud before. After an intense training session with Kaoru, they had headed into the city of Osaka where Kenshin had suggested they vacation. While they were at the market a couple of thugs had decided to terrorize a group of young women. Kaoru had stepped down and allowed Yahiko to fight them on his own, defeating them with relative ease. He swelled with pride just remembering the congratulations and thanks given to him by the people who had seen him fight. Then Kaoru congratulated him and even admitted that he was becoming a very powerful young man and that she was proud of how strong he's become. `Kaoru even said that I'm getting really strong! If I keep training like this I'll be as strong as Kenshin!' He was giddy and began to roll around the floor with joy, not noticing Kaoru run into his room.

"Yahiko, get up!"

Yahiko jumped up, face flushed with embarrassment, and immediately began explaining his actions to Kaoru. "See, I, uh…. I dropped something and was, uhhhh, looking for…Kaoru what the hell happened to you?" He stopped his talking to fully take in Kaoru's appearance. She was still clad in her training attire; white gi, blue hakama, wooden sword but her gi was torn at the shoulder and there was a large horizontal slash underneath her right eye.

"Yahiko, grab your bokken and come here!" He hurried to follow her orders, tripping over his unkempt futon during the process. He snatched his bokken and hurried to stand up but strong hands were already half dragging him to the dark corner near the wall next to the door. He looked up, surprised to see Kaoru dragging him but kept his mouth as she was obviously keeping quite for some reason. Blood from her wound dripped down onto Yahiko's face.

"Kaoru..." he whispered but she placed her fingers over his mouth to silence him. He finally saw what she was so quite about.

A large man in black threw open the door, an unsheathed katana twirling in his massive hand. He was obviously stupid and couldn't sense ki because he didn't spot them huddled in their pathetic hiding place.

Kaoru stood up and attacked him from behind. Kaoru skill clearly outmatched her enemy yet she remained wary during the fight. The man swung his sword relentlessly like a lumberjack. Kaoru dodged attack after attack, never blocking with her wooded sword. `Why doesn't she beat him already?!' Yahiko screamed in his head. Then it hit him. He looked down at his bokken. `Her sword is made of wood; it's no match for a katana. If her sword is destroyed she's done for.' Kaoru ducked under a swing aimed for her head, saw her opening and went for it. She jabbed her sword into his gut and when he doubled over with pain she disappeared and reappeared behind him, smashing her sword against the back of his enormous head. He collapsed onto the floor with a loud thump.

Yahiko approached slowly, then poked the man with his bokken just to be sure he was knocked out. "Kaoru, what the hell is going on!? Where'd you get that?" He pointed to her injury, "and who the hell is this!?" She didn't answer him, instead she pried the katana out of the unconscious mans fingers. She studied the hilt of the sword before flipping in over so that she was holding the blade.

"Here." She moved the hilt of the sword so that it was directly in front of him.

"What do you want me to do with this?" He took the sword and nearly dropped it; the weight took him off guard.

"Please listen to me and just do what I say." She took a deep breath, "I need you to run to all the rooms in the inn and just get everybody the hell out understand."

He nodded slowly, confusion written all over his face. "But why? What's going on?"

Kaoru gestured to the man on the ground then to the sword in Yahiko's hand. "What the hell do you think is going on? Don't be stupid, use your head."

Yahiko thought it over quickly, "the inn's being attacked isn't it?"

She looked at the man on the ground, "obviously." She spoke with venom in her voice but her demeanor changed when she faced Yahiko. "He's not the only one you know. There are a lot of enemies in the inn. I know because I fought a few on my way over here." She brushed her torn gi with her hand to show her point. "There's also a lot of innocent people in here also, that's why I need you to evacuate the inn while I…" Her voice trailed off

"While you what?" He already knew what was coming, he could tell by her voice. Her voice had never been that way, it was the voice of someone who knew their inevitable fate, who was willing to face it and it frightened him.

"While I go and fight them."

"You mean use yourself as bait while everyone else escapes!" Kaoru looked away, avoiding Yahiko's eyes. "I won't leave you by yourself; I'll fight them with you! I'm strong enough and you can't beat all these people by yourself!" He didn't want to leave her alone to face so much danger. She was his sensei, his sister and his friend. He would do everything in his power to assure her safety and happiness.

"No." She spoke firmly, trying to settle the matter. "I already told you what you have to do."

"But I have to help you, I have to protect you!"

"Think about the people of the inn who need your protection more that I do. Remember earlier today when you beat up those thugs, I told you that the Kamiyo Kashin Ryuu is…"

"Used to protect the weak, the people truly in need of protection." He finished her sentence for her. He understood what he had to do, although he was still unsure about leaving Kaoru by herself. "All right, I'll go but what if they don't listen to me?"

"If that happens show them the mark on the hilt of that sword." He looked at the hilt to see that on it was carved a picture of a man with a sword through his chest being engulfed by flames. He had also noticed that the same picture was on the right arm of the unconscious man on the floor. "That sword belongs to a terrorist group; the Jigoku Hi clan. That'll probably get them going considering that clan is becoming pretty well known for its ruthlessness. Then if that doesn't work, you're gonna have to remove them by force."

"Got'cha." Then it hit him. "Where the hell are Kenshin and Sano?"

"Probably somewhere in the city, but they can't help us now anyway."

"Why the hell not?" `I can go and get them' he thought `then they can beat the crap out these guys. No sweat!'

"They can't help because we don't know where the hell they are and even if we do find them imagine how many people these guys," she kicked the man on the floor "would have killed! We just don't have the time, got it?" Yahiko nodded in agreement. "Besides Yahiko," she put her hand on his shoulder and inhaled deeply, "we can't rely on Kenshin forever. This time we have to rely on our own strength. This time we have to be the heroes." Yahiko was pumped up and already began to run out of the room when Kaoru grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

"Kaoru, what's wrong?" She didn't answer; instead she knelt down and wrapped Yahiko in a loving embrace. His eyes widened in surprise but his arms snaked around her back to return the hug.

"Yahiko," she said while her arms tighten around him snuggly, "if worse comes to worse then please get yourself out." She broke the embrace to look him straight in the eyes. "After all, someone has to be here to teach the Kamiya Kashin Ryuu." She kissed him softly on the forehead then turned and ran out of the room.

Yahiko was too surprised too see her leave but when he did catch on he too followed her example and ran out of the room to complete his mission.

Yahiko was suddenly snapped out of his memories when the mousy little man ran by him, shoving him with his arm as he went. Yahiko cursed himself for getting lost in his memories but was silently relieved that the mousy moron finally had enough brains to leave the inn. He ran out of the room and up the stairs to the next level of the inn, relieved to find that the people had heeded his warnings and promptly left.

He headed up another flight of stairs to the very last floor. After turning the corner he stopped to catch his breath. He wiped the sweat off his brow and away from his eyes. When he finally took in his surroundings, he felt the need to catch his breath again. Scattered throughout the hallway were the insensible bodies of half a dozen men, all wearing the black uniform of the Jigoku Hi clan. Many of the comatose faces were twisted in horrid expressions of pain, humiliation and above all defeat. From the slight conscious, men moans and groans of pain, although barely audible, could be heard. Although they were the enemy, Yahiko couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic. On their faces fresh bruises were forming and old blood from broken noses and other flesh wounds were drying to their faces in little patches of brownish red. Limbs were broken and joints could bend the wrong way but what really drew Yahiko's attention was the nauseating metallic smell of fresh blood, a lot of fresh blood. He began to systematically check the room for blood and the bodies of the men for any large flesh wounds. Although in the back of his mind he knew the truth. `Face it; Kaoru kicked these guys ass using her wooden sword. There's no way the wooden sword could've created the wound you're looking for. It's pretty obvious that the blood you smell belongs to…' "Shut up!" Yahiko told himself aloud. He didn't want to think that the blood belonged to Kaoru but his worst fears were confirmed when he found no wounds on the men and a bloody sword forgotten by the men. `Please let her be okay. Please be okay Kaoru.' A man's terrified scream vibrated up the stairs, through the hall and into Yahiko's ears.

"Someone, please fucking help me!!! Please!!" Yahiko began to run down the stairs to investigate the matter but stopped midway when he saw that at the end of the hall the mousy man was running like a bat out of hell. His face was deathly white, snot and tears were streaming uncontrollable down his face and the sack of items that he was carrying was gone. In fact the arm that was carrying the sack was missing too. "Oh god, someone please help me!!" He collapsed on the floor; unsuppressed sobs wracked his body while he used his only arm to cradle his bloody stump. He suddenly began scuttling away towards the stairs as fast as his mangled body would allow all the while begging people who, because of Yahiko's position on the stairs, couldn't see. "Please, I beg you, spare my life! I'm a rich man, I'll pay you anything you want just spare me! Please, please, please spare my life!"

An evil voice spoke, "what do you think boys?" The same voice spoke again after a few seconds, "yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking." Then he chuckled and snapped his fingers.

Before Yahiko could register what has happening, the mousy man had been thrown against the wall by two other men, clan in the same black uniform as the man who attacked Kaoru. A third man approached slowly, his katana was already unsheathed, glimmering menacingly. "So…you thought you could beg for mercy, huh?" It was the same voice that spoke earlier. "Well sorry to disappoint ya, but were not exactly fond of mercy, especially coming from a filthy liar like yourself." He spat on his face then chuckled and another man followed his example. Yahiko could tell that this man was giving the other two the orders.

"Please no…I never lied to you, I swear. Please spare-"He was struck hard in the face by the leader who looked like he wanted nothing more than to disembowel the man and his family just so he could dance on their graves.

"Shut up!" he roared then struck him repeatedly. "I did not give you permission to speak you stupid sack of shit!" Yahiko was in turmoil. `What do I do!? If I try to help this guy they'll kill both of us and I'll never be able to find Kaoru. If I don't this man is going to be tortured to death and I'll I can do is watch. Kaoru told me to get out if worse comes to worse and clearly' he watched the leader beat what was left of the mans face with his fist, `worse came to worse. But I was also told to protect the weak. Do I help even if that means sacrificing myself, and should I sacrifice myself for this? This man is dead whether I help him or not but I can't just sit by and do nothing while they torture him! What do I do?' He watched as the men took turns in beating the mousy man until he was an inch away from death.

`What do I do!?'

The men pulled a white powdery substance and spread it over the man's stump.

`What do I do!?'

The stump began to blister and simmer as the exposed flesh was being cooked by the white substance.

`What do I do!?'

The man clutched his stump and rolled around the floor, excruciating pain shook his body. "OH PLEASE NO!!! MAKE THE BURNING STOP!!! PLEASE HELP ME!! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!" The three men watched the mousy man roll around in a pool of his own blood, hysterical with laughter.

`What do I do!?'

They propped the mousy man up again and the leader smashed his fist into the man's stomach. "Please stop." He whimpered, "I never lied to you, I swear. Please, I beg you…stop." The man finished his pathetic plea; it was clear in his voice that he had given up hope. The leader was boring of his game. He lifted the mans head so that his sword could cut easily across his throat.

`What do I do!?' Yahiko watched as they prepped the man for his execution. `I don't know what I can do,' he thought strongly, `but I know I can't just sit here and do nothing!'

"Now die!" The man raised his katana and was seconds away from decapitating the poor man.

"STOP!" Yahiko yelled at the top of his lungs. The leader lowered his sword and all four of the men stared at him, surprised to see someone else in the inn. The leader nodded toward Yahiko and the chase began. The other two men sprinted up the stairs after him. `Shit, shit shit! Now what the hell am I supposed to do!' He ran through the hall with the unconscious men with something grabbed his ankle. Yahiko fell to the ground, his upper body splashing in the pool of blood he had smelt earlier. The blood, Kaoru's blood, soaked his clothes and sprayed him in the face, some getting in his mouth. He recovered from this shock and turned around to see what had grabbed him. There at his feet was one of the men who had woken up. He was clawing at Yahiko's leg only half aware of what he was doing. Yahiko used his other foot and smashed the man repeatedly in the face, tearing his ears, knocking out teeth and breaking his nose with a sickening crunch. He turned around to run but it was too late, the two men had already caught him and had thrown him across the hall.

He was tired of running; he knew he probably wouldn't get out of here alive and he briefly contemplated not getting up off the floor. His ear rested on the floor as the two men approached him. He could hear the man begging for his life below, the leader's laughter and then he heard the man's pleas cut short as a blade sliced through muscle and skin. He could hear the body hit the floor; he heard the leader's insane laughter and that made his blood boil. `Even if I don't survive, I can't just let that guy get away with murder. I'll stop that bastard, even if it costs me my life.'

"So…you're the kid that thought he wanted to be a hero huh?" The leader snapped his fingers and Yahiko was pulled roughly to his feet by the other two. Yahiko looked at the leader, saw that his katana was sheathed and at his side, saw that in each hand he held a bodiless head. He saw the head of the mousy man, his eyes which seconds ago were livid with fear now strangely glazed over. Then he saw the second head, a head that he didn't notice before. The leader held the head of the young woman by her long raven hair.

Authors notes: This chapter was longer than the first. The next chapter will continue exactly where this one stopped. I was going to make this and the next chapter connected but I got tired of typing so you'll just have to settle for two separate chapters.