===== 08/07/02 === 11:08:05 p.m. ===== Whedon and Watsuki sitting in a tree, They own RK and Buffy. One writes scripts, the other draws manga, Hope this disclaimer will avert their anga. Edodale By wombat Chapter 13 It was even worse than Megumi had expected. Wretchedly, she sat on the floor of the raku gallery beside Sano and Yumi while Hiko paced in front of them. He hadn't officially opened up shop for the day yet, and a good thing, too, because something about him suggested that the next person to walk in, or maybe even breathe loudly, would really wish they hadn't. Every so often he'd stop, just stand there and look at them over the top of his glasses, and then go back to pacing again. Megumi and Sano had bicycled there early that morning to talk to Yumi, missing the tiny car already tucked away in the corner of the parking lot. Hiko had taken the black sword back out of its case to examine the ruby, but set it down as soon as he saw the pair. "What happened last night?" he asked them. Halfway through their jumbled explanation, Yumi emerged from her converted locker-room to add her part of the story. Those first four words of Hiko's had been the only thing he'd said to them at all in the past hour, about which half of which had been spent in this awful limbo. The bell attached to the front door jingled as someone else came in after all, and Megumi winced on their behalf, expecting at the least to see pottery go airborne. Hiko didn't do anything horrible to Kaoru when she popped her head in, though, and Megumi relaxed a bit. However, instead of saying anything, Hiko just pointed at them in a signal to tell the whole story all over again. When all three of them lamely trailed off at the end, Kaoru just said, "Oh," and sat down against the wall. Megumi recognized what she was wearing over her jeans as one of Sano's old sweaters. It was dark red, the color of Kenshin's hair or of drying blood, and there was an oddly stiff look to part of the front. The sleeves were shortened up so they only came partway over her hands instead of burying them, not quite hiding the cuts and bruises on her fingers. It looked like her date with Kenshin at the Akabeko hadn't gone well either. Hiko went back to pacing. After another few minutes of this, Sano reached his breaking point. "Okay, so what's with the silent treatment here?" Megumi winced again as Hiko came to another stop to look at Sano, but then he simply went down the hallway and out the front door, making the bell jingle again. "He didn't tell you guys yet?" Kaoru tugged her sleeves the rest of the way over her hands. "You were right, you know. After you transferred the ruby to Yumi's knife, it did go look for Kenshin. And he went totally Battousai on the spot." "Inside the Akabeko? Crap!" "No, I was outside with him, and he was already dead. Long story. But he popped back up as Battousai without needing to stick anyone with the knife first. After that, Battousai beat up Jineh, and then went away without me killing him even once." "You guys ran into Jineh?" Yumi made a face. "He's been out to get Bats for a long time, you know." "Well, that's why Kenshin was dead in the first place. Battousai made up for it later, though. Don't ask me about the details, okay?" Hiko returned with Yumi's knife and Jineh's sword. He picked up Battousai's sword as well, and locked all three weapons back into the case before sliding the rack of shelves back in front of it. He held out his hand to Yumi until she gave him the extra key. Finally, he sat down, relieving everyone at the prospect of no more pacing, and spoke again. "It appears that Jineh underwent a remarkable recovery. By the time I returned to the alley last night, there was nothing except for a partially uncovered manhole and a few stray giblets. I assume he escaped back down into the sewers. Miss Kamiya-Summers, in a situation such as this, you really ought to have found me and told me at once, instead of waiting for the end of a three-hour movie." Another horrible silence took hold. "Um," said Megumi. "So what do we do now?" "I propose that we repeat the purification ceremony under more controlled conditions." Edgily, Sano asked, "How many of us actually need to be part of we?" "Miss Rosenberg will need to officiate, of course, and I should certainly like to observe the proceedings this time. We ought to keep Kenshin on the premises as well, in order to observe any effects on him directly. Miss Komagata, you may be needed to reverse the process again, unless you wish to give us some of the necessary materials beforehand." Sano looked downright awed at that last tactful phrase. "So for Kaoru and me, attendence is optional, right? Wanna do lunch?" "I can't," Kaoru said. Her hands were still buried inside the sweater cuffs, but they seemed to be fidgeting. They gave Megumi an odd impression of two knitted snakes trying to smooch. "Mom's taking a personal day to hit the beauty salon and go shopping, so I have to stay home with Yahiko all afternoon. Lots of homework to do anyway." Yumi stretched, still wearing the oversized t-shirt and sweatpants she used for pajamas. "Well, I'm in. Might be interesting to see Bats again if he does show up, and if he does, you'll need someone to keep an eye on him so he doesn't go postal. Are we going back to school for this, or should someone go grab Kenshin and bring him here?" "Are you sure he's still going to be Kenshin?" Kaoru's question made everyone freeze. Hiko was the first to recover. "Both the ruby and the knife are still here, and I returned to school last night and deadbolted him into his room. So even if he is Battousai, he's unarmed and contained. I should have preferred to keep the weapons here, but it appears less risky to move them than him, considering all the unknown factors at present. Miss Rosenberg, are your supplies still at school, or did you take them home?" She chewed on a loose strand of tawny hair. "The bowls and stuff are in my locker, but I'll need fresh pieces of fir tree and a new cloth that isn't all burned in the middle. I guess we should have more rice, salt, and sake in the patrol box in here, and I don't know if you want to mess around with putting silvery things onto Jineh's sword to check if we hear any yells of pain coming up from the sewers somewhere." Yumi gave a thumbs-up. "I'm all for that." "You guys gonna try putting Jineh's rock back into his sword?" "Um, that might be a bad idea, considering that the knife went to go look for Kenshin last night. I bet Jineh's already pretty mad at us, and I don't think we need to give him his sword back and probably his soul-eating diner's card too. For that matter, we probably ought to try a purification ceremony directly on Kenshin to see what happens. Maybe nothing, since he's never had a problem with ofuda, but I don't know how different things would be with Battousai." With one sleeve, Kaoru rubbed her eyes. "Really, really different," she said. --- It took two seconds for Hiko to unlock Kenshin's door and slam it shut behind him again, his silver-wrapped katana in hand. The boy wasn't in the sleeping bag on the workbench, and the window above the laundry rack was open. Hiko tensed, expecting the worst. A rustling noise came from a dark nook of the floor, and he automatically stabbed at it, expecting to hit a stray mouse. Instead of a dying squeak, however, there was only a pained, sleepy "Oro?" Kenshin crawled out from beneath the workbench, still wearing the same bloodstained clothes from last night. There were dustbunnies in his hair, and he looked deathly tired. "Good morning," he said. "I hope Miss Kaoru is well?" "She asked me to give you this." Hiko tossed him his sweater. "I assume from my door that she told you of last night's events. If Battousai can emerge at any time, there isn't much hope left for me, especially if he's triggered by her presence. All I can hope is that you find the sakabatou quickly." "Oddly enough, it seems that neither of you is entirely to blame." Hiko summarized the previous night's rituals far more succinctly than its participants had. Kenshin considered this. "I see." "Not that you are completely exculpated, either. If both of you are determined to remain complicit in her downfall, I would prefer to concentrate our resources on finding the sakabatou, rather than resorting to heroic measures to separate you. Miss Kamiya- Summers was looking excessively innocent last night at dinner, considering what I could see of your behavior above the table." Kenshin twitched, but didn't attempt any excuses yet. "Unfortunately for you, I consider it your own responsibility to defend your virtue, such as it is." The blue-violet gaze dropped wearily. "Suppose the situation were reversed, and I were the one constantly importuning her despite her misgivings?" "Unlike that supposition, she cannot take you by brute force. Nor is she likely to impregnate you or rip your soul away. If you've already warned her of all of these risks, then either she is prepared to accept them or you must prevent her from doing so. I think I need not suggest which of those two options seems more sound. In the meantime, we have a busy day ahead. Don't bother washing up yet." --- Tomoe sat very still as Enishi combed her hair in front of her mirror. He kept stopping every minute or so to admire her eyes, in which the golden flecks had thickened and clustered into soft trailing streaks. "That's lovely, that is," he crooned softly. "I really should fetch someone for your tanto to see what happens now. Any particular sort you'd like?" She slid her shoulders about, in a combination of shrugging and squirming away. "But I'm not hungry that way." "Oh, I'm sure you'll come over all peckish once something's put in front of you." From behind her chair, he leaned his cheek against hers. "Tell you what, I'll bring you a surprise present someday soon. Won't that be a treat for my sweetheart? Now hold still, or I can't put up your hair all proper. I can trust you with your hairpin again, now can't I?" "You did say I could have it back, Enishi." He tapped the carved rosewood shaft against his teeth very carefully, so that the hairpin's silver-capped point didn't touch his flesh. "You won't be hurting yourself again with it, now. Promise me that." "I promise." Expertly, he twisted up her hair and pinned it into place. The point grazed her scalp, curling out a wisp of smoke like a stray tendril. "Ah, bloody hell. I'm sorry, love," he murmured, kissing the smooth, shining coil and lingering to breathe its fragrance. "You all right, then?" His hands slid down her arms, pulling her underkimono ever so slightly off her shoulders, and he leaned down to nip its collar. She shivered. "Enishi, don't." "But we're the only two left now, my dove. Yumi's gone, I've chased off Jineh, and Battousai left us a long time ago. I've kept you safe all this time, and now it's just us together." He'd moved up from the collar to the back of her neck, giving it little love-bites between phrases. "All those years ago, I heard the pretty sounds you made when Battousai did this same thing to you. Wouldn't you like that again?" As she slid the rosewood pin back out, her hair tumbled down across his face, and he made a low rumble of pleasure as he tasted the silken flow. However, he stopped when he saw their reflection in the mirror. She was holding the silver point inches from his throat, her face reasonably sane, but sad. "Not from my own brother." He withdrew, but not without protest. "But what's that to do with us anymore? Our parents and our sisters are long dead, so who's to know? It would make our lives less lonely, and it's good enough for Izanagi and Izanami, so why not?" "Because I don't want to, and that should be good enough for you." She pulled her underkimono back up, tucked the pin into her sleeve, and took up the comb herself. "You've all those girls at the Yoshiwara working for you. Why not one of them?" Enishi had retreated to sit on the edge of her bed, but was still watching her with wide turquoise eyes. It was the same expression he'd had when they were children and she had to finish the household tasks before she could play with him. Even as a baby, he'd had the same intense fascination with her; by the time he was born, their sisters were much older and already in service at the shrine with their mother, leaving her to care for him most of the time. "They're not our kind. I couldn't play Yumi's knife game with them if I took the fancy, leastwise not more than once. Nor most of the other games we had." He looked down at his hands, clasped in his lap. "And I don't love them the way I do you. Tomoe, my sweet little dove, you're all I have left, and all I live for." She took a long ribbon from the table and tied her hair back in a simple doubled loop, not answering him. When she stood up to complete her wardrobe, though, he leaped up to help with the complex task of fastening her obi, not touching her any more or longer than strictly necessary, except with that same yearning stare. --- "Ms. Summers? Ah, good afternoon, Yahiko. Is your mother in?" Yahiko peered out at them in the dusk, his practice clothing accessorized with a powdery orange mustache and a handful of cheesy poofs. "Hey there, Mr. Hiko. Hey Kenshin, feeling any better after sitting next to Kaoru made you sick? Nah, Mom's still out doing chick stuff. She should be back in about an hour, though. Wanna come in?" He gestured vaguely toward the back of the house, from which a confused noise of cartoons and thwacking could be heard. "That won't be necessary. Kenshin had wished to apologize for his hasty departure last night, but if she's not here--" "Hey, Yahiko, who is it?" Kaoru emerged from the hallway, wiping sweat from her face with the hand not holding her bokken, and turned on the porch light. "Oh!" Both she and Kenshin looked at Hiko instead of each other. He drummed his fingers against his folded arms. "Unless, of course, you wish to remain here until Ms. Summers returns, if that would be acceptable to all parties. Otherwise I'll bring you to the gallery and you can help us pack rakuware after all." "Yeah, I guess he can stay." She didn't sound as enthusiastic as she might have before yesterday evening. Kenshin couldn't really blame her for that. "Should we call you when he wants to go back, or are you just going to come back and get him after you finish packing your shipment?" "Either will do. You have my number already, I believe? Excellent, I'll see you again in a few hours." Hiko returned to his car, where Yumi was sitting in the passenger's seat. She waved at them. Yahiko stuffed his remaining cheesy poofs into his mouth and disappeared back into the house to reload. This left Kenshin standing on the front porch on the other side of the screen door from Kaoru, who was still avoiding eye contact with him. His hair was still slightly damp, and so were the clean clothes he'd changed into. He shifted awkwardly as she watched Hiko drive away. "I was just sparring with Sano out in the back yard, but I was already figuring it's about time to hand him off to Yahiko." "I'm sure you're an excellent instructor to both of them." "I guess. Sano keeps depending on his advantage in reach too much. It's fine if he's just fighting me or Yahiko, but once he goes up against a bigger opponent like Hiko, he'll get clobbered. It'll even out a little bit in the dark, even with reflective tape on the practice weapons." She tucked her bokken under her arm, looked at the inside doorknob, and wiped cheesy poof powder off it with her sleeve. "I guess nothing exciting happened with the ritual stuff today?" "Not especially. They established that the ruby won't leave my sword if there's no immediate transfer weapon for it. Also, Miss Megumi and I suspect that since Jineh's sword has already been activated by my blood as Battousai, he'll recover his powers if he regains possession of it." "Great." Hiko's car vanished around the corner, leaving Kaoru with no choice but to look back at Kenshin again. "Are you coming inside the house, or do you just want to stand there?" "Which would you prefer?" "Oh, don't be stupid, come on in." Yahiko had flopped down in front of the tv again, but she poked him in the butt with her bokken. "Hey, don't you want to beat up Sano's kneecaps again? Go wash that orange stuff off your hands." Her brother huffed at her, but headed into the kitchen. She turned off the VCR. "So, what do you want to do until Mom gets back? I guess you shouldn't really spar with any of us, but Yahiko has all these Dragonball tapes if you want to see the stuff he was telling you about last night. Or I brought back your leftover kitsune-zushi from the Akabeko if you want to finish that up. Did you have anything to eat today?" Yahiko returned just in time to hear the last part. "Don't let her cook anything for you unless you like it Cajun blackened style." She tossed her bokken at his head. He caught it and headed around the corner to go outside. "The leftovers will be fine, thank you. I'm sorry to put you to so much trouble." Kenshin obediently sat down on the sofa cushion she pointed to. While she disappeared into the kitchen, he listened to the noises from the back yard, though he couldn't see any of what was going on. The Doppler effect from Yahiko's yells suggested that he was making short sprints, dashing in and out of Sano's reach, which was sensible enough. It would tire him out in a prolonged battle, though. Kaoru returned with his half-eaten kitsune-zushi on a plate. She hadn't microwaved it quite long enough, making the tofu skin scalding hot while some of the rice remained cold, but it was food. He stirred it around to equalize the temperature and ate it slowly, suppressing the circumstances of his previous serving. Instead of sitting down next to him, she stood beside the sofa while he ate, not even actually watching him. It was more as if she were standing guard. When he finished, he cleared his throat. "Miss Kaoru, if my presence makes you uncomfortable, I don't wish to be a burden. I can walk back to school, if need be." "No, it's okay." In a sudden rush, she said, "Kenshin, I'm really sorry about last night, and about everything. You're right, I shouldn't've been pushing you, and I'll stop, I promise. It's just that--" Just as suddenly, she stopped, shaking slightly. Astonished, he reached out to her, but she jerked away. He eased his hand back down, slowly. "No, I'm the one who ought to apologize for endangering you. As long as we both know where matters stand now, we can act accordingly." Whatever that meant, he thought to himself. "I just--" she began again, and stopped. "Um. You know, there's still all that blood on my dress, and I'm afraid to let Mom see it. Do you think you could help get it out?" This time, she let him touch her hand, though he could feel it tense up as his fingers brushed it. "I can try," he said quietly. "It's the least that I can do." --- Inside the Yoshiwara, Enishi took a few minutes to watch the girls on stage, which he almost never did. They were pretty enough, he supposed, probably good for a bounce or two, but not what he wanted. Even if the dancing was simply a job for them, rather than something they particularly enjoyed, he'd still prefer to have someone who didn't reveal herself to anyone but him, her body or her heart. His own sweet dove, caged safely up in their nest-- in a way, he liked that Tomoe was still rejecting him. It must be that she was still remaining faithful to Battousai, after all this time, but once she came around, she'd stay just as faithful to him. He was sure of it. He was getting a bit tired of waiting, to be sure, but the patience was half the game, making the reward all the sweeter at the end. Pushing his glasses up, he returned to the office. The doorman was already waiting for the discussion Enishi had arranged earlier. He seemed edgy, as might be expected, having never really balanced out the pain and humiliation of blunt scrotal trauma against the relief at not losing his job, or life. "Yeah, boss? What can I do for you?" Enishi sat down at his desk. "Could you recognize Yumi's redhead again?" "I guess so. Why?" "I'd like to have a chat with that redhead, if you can arrange it." "She's bound to turn up around one of the shrines. How soon do you want her?" "Whenever you find her." He didn't bother correcting the pronoun; for all he knew, it really was a girl instead of Battousai, although he doubted it. "Once you do, fetch her back here. Tell her we've found another of Yumi's old paychecks or some rot like that, that should do it." "All right. This could take a while, though. Got someone else to cover the door?" "I'll find someone, don't you worry. And you'll be paid your usual, too. Now get on with you." Tapping his fingers together, Enishi considered possible outcomes. If it was Battousai, what condition would he be in? If it wasn't, what did this girl have to do with Yumi, and was Yumi alive or dead? And most importantly, how would any of this help him fully win Tomoe over? After Battousai's apparent death, she'd gone all to pieces. The bastard must have done something to her to gain the strength to escape. Enishi had tenderly cared for her ever since then-- the few short weeks before the sakabatou struck them all down, and then on the other side of the gulf of time, these past three years in this strange modern world. At first, with the sakabatou close behind them, he hadn't had time to think things over. But after they were all brought back, he'd decided that the way to make things right again for Tomoe would be to take back whatever Battousai had stolen from her. And the best way to do that would be to completely dispel his energy by finding the sakabatou and killing him with it. But now she was getting better on her own. She was almost well enough now to fend for herself again. Soon she might not need him any more, and she might leave him. Well, she wasn't going to leave him for Battousai a second time. She couldn't, if he found and killed Battousai first. The last time Jineh had seen Yumi, she'd been with Battousai. If this little redhead at the shrine wasn't Battousai himself, it would still be a girl who knew something about Yumi. She might know something about Battousai as well, and maybe she'd tell Enishi all about it with the right encouragement. It had been a long time since Enishi had played the knife game with Yumi, or any other girl. He hoped he hadn't forgotten how to do it right. --- Returning from upstairs, Kaoru set a pile of dry towels on the counter and dumped a bucket into the kitchen sink. Her dress poured out, limp and drowned. "I tried washing the blood out when we got home, but most of it just wanted to stay there. So I just left it to soak in cold water overnight." "Prudent enough," Kenshin said. He checked the fabric tag before dabbing on some soap and rubbing gently, trying not to think about which parts of her body the cloth had lain against. "None of the dye is bleeding out, so I think it will be all right in the end." "Did you like it?" she asked shyly. "The dress? It's very lovely," he said, successfully quashing the urge to recite odes and sonnets to the way she looked even in sweaty practice clothes, holding a singed bokken. Something of that must have silently expressed itself anyway, because she looked away from him and blushed. The blood was definitely washing out now. It showed up most against the light cherry blossoms, but was rapidly disappearing against the darker background. "Um," she said again. After a while, he prompted, "Yes?" He turned off the tap and bunched up the dress against the side of the sink to start squeezing out water. Her hands were white knots of sinew and bone. "You started to say something last night about what you wanted to do. What was it? I-- would it have killed me?" When he reached for a towel, she flinched away. There was nothing he could do to reassure her, or at least nothing that wouldn't risk drawing her back to him. He desperately wanted to. He couldn't. He laid the dress over the towel, rolled it up, and twisted it to get more water out. "Not immediately, no. In fact, prompt surgical intervention would probably assure survival, although some degree of scar tisssue would be inevitable." He unrolled it and repeated the process with another fresh towel, and then another, until no more moisture emerged. "There," he said, holding it up to the light. "All you need to do now is hang this up to air out." "Thanks." Folding the damp dress loosely over one arm, she cradled it protectively. "Is... is it still something you want to do?" He braced himself. "What would you do if I said yes?" He wasn't sure how she'd respond to this: anger? disgust? deadly force? any number of possibilities, except for what she actually said. He could barely hear her voice, and he had to lean closer to hear her clearly. When he did, he wished he hadn't. "I think I'd want you to do it anyway. Do you?" A shudder of horror went through him. "No. I don't. Miss Kaoru, why would you say such a thing?" "Why did you ask me that question in the first place?" Angrily, she wiped her unladen sleeve across her eyes. "I can't stand it any more, having to fight you all the time, never knowing when someone is going to show up and kill you. Never knowing when I might have to kill you, or at least Battousai, who looks just like you except that he's a vicious sadistic creep who wants me as much as I want you." "Kaoru--" "I know I said I'd stop pushing you, so I promise I won't bring this up ever again. Sometimes I think that if I gave in to Battousai, at least I'd have some idea of what it would be like with you. And I wouldn't have to lose you the same way I lost Dad. He should the one teaching Yahiko how to fight, not me. Dad gave me that bokken Yahiko's using now, the one that's all singed along one side because it caught on fire after I broke your neck with it that first time, and I--" He caught her as she fell to her knees, sobbing. There was no possible way to soothe her except with kisses, and he did. If she'd pressed the matter then, she could have taken him right there on her kitchen floor, and he was deeply grateful afterward that she hadn't. She barely even responded, except by quieting as he rocked her against his chest, whispering her name into her hair. "I'm sorry," she finally said, with a last sniffle, and drew away. "So I guess we're back to the start now. You aren't going to let me, are you?" "No, I'm afraid not. Forgive me, but I don't think you've clearly considered all of the risks involved for you. After all, you are only fifteen." Her eyes were as blue as Enishi's sapphire, as blue as the evening sky beginning to kindle the first few stars outside. "So were you when you left your village to find that guy with the sword. Did you know all the risks you were taking then?" "If I had, I wouldn't have gone." "But you went anyway." "So I did," he admitted. "But I still won't let you have your way with me." Reaching forward, he stroked the damp dress still hanging over her arm. "Why, you might treat me as carelessly as your clothing, which I took so much effort to wash clean and which you put straight onto strange orange powder." "What? Oh, Yahiko's cheesy poofs from the doorknob...." It worked, he'd made her smile. She even hit his hair. "Why didn't you say anything?" "It didn't seem like a good time." He helped her get back up and try to shake off cheesy poof powder. It just smeared. "Oh well, it should come out in the regular laundry. It's not like Yahiko's clothing doesn't have enough of it." She glanced at the clock on the wall and made a slightly panicked noise. "I'd better get him inside now. It's his turn to make dinner, which means frozen pizza, but if he doesn't put it in the oven now, Sano's going to be hungry enough to eat the cardboard box it came in before it's ready." "Mr. Harris eats dinner with you regularly?" He didn't sound slightly jealous, did he? Perhaps he did, from the coy grin Kaoru gave him. "When he comes over, he claims he's paying for his Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu lessons that way. He brings frozen pizzas, Yahiko puts them in the oven, and everybody's happy as long as they can digest lactose. Will you want any?" "I don't know," he said, mystified. "Is it that kind of bread that's similar to okonomiyaki?" "Kind of. Oh, you'll see when Yahiko gets them out of the box. Before I fetch him, though, I've got one more question for you." He tried to maintain the light tone. "It doesn't involve trigonometry, does it?" "Well, it could seem sort of math-related. At least I think I've heard something about the osculation of circles." "Oro?" he asked, out of sheer joy. "I mean, even if you won't let me ravish you, you don't mind if we keep kissing once in a while, do you?" "Nmmph," he said, delirious with the taste of cheesy poofs on her lips. ----- (Yeep-- just realized that in some of my previous chapter revisions, I must've accidentally deleted my last thank-you note to all of the reviewers who've been reviewing by writing review-type things. But it must've been a while since the last one anyway. So muchos nachos to Winter, Jason, Colleen, Firuze, Kori and everyone else who's been kind enough to let me know you've enjoyed this piece or the possibly optional-chapter-to-be that's also up. I couldn't keep writing this without you. Hey Jason-- when you talk about Battousai and Kaoru getting "hitched", do you actually mean "laid"? I'm just having these wild images of Battousai doing the chicken dance at the wedding reception, which would probably be easier to deal with than whatever the bachelor party had been like....)