Kaoru had never seen anything – other worldly or human – move as fast as the red-haired vampire in her bedroom. Between one heartbeat and the next, her spine slammed into the wall and the sharp edge of a naked blade was pressed flat against the rapid pulse at her throat. She hadn't had time to react.
Kaoru's wide blue eyes, dark with fear stared into a flat gaze. Hard topaz jewels that held neither feeling nor emotion, just a steady burning fire that threatened to consume everything in its path. Her breathing went ragged as she held his eyes. And she couldn't look away. She tried, but something inside her refused to back down.
If she was going to die, she was going to do so on her terms.
"Braver than most."
His words rumbled in her ears, low and amused. His eyes showed none of the emotions she could hear in his tone and sweat rolled down the back of her neck. She shuddered in terror at the slow smile that curled away from his fangs and the sound of footsteps against the wood floors of her dojo had the blood freezing in her veins.
'Oh, please no.'
He spoke half a second after the door slammed open.
"Take but another step and I'll cut her throat."
Kaoru was certain Sano had never reacted so quickly in his life. One hand grabbed Yahiko's Gi and the other grabbed the doorframe to check their combined momentum. Both stopped with a sudden motion that gave the younger of the two a case of whiplash.
"Battousai," Sano growled, his voice harsher than Kaoru remembered it being. His casual air of nonchalance had disappeared, stripped away to leave behind the edges of his vampirism that she had only seen a handful of times.
"Good. Then you know who I am." Battousai responded, "its saves me from having to give introductions." As he spoke, he kept his eyes locked on Kaoru, either not caring that his back was to Yahiko and Sano or arrogant enough to believe they would stay still.
"Megumi," Battousai addressed the woman Sano hadn't noticed till he spoke, "Are they armed?"
Megumi allowed an amused smirk to cross her thin lips. "No Batts, nothing on them. Although the taller one wears bandages around his right hand, implying a constant use; probably fist fighting."
Battousai acknowledged her by suddenly twisting and sending Kaoru flying forward. She managed to twist herself around before she hit Sano's broad frame. The wind was knocked clean out of her lungs and she gasped silently as she tried to breath in some air.
"Sit. All of you."
Yahiko bristled, but Sano quieted him with a hard glare. Yahiko sat down hard, his face mutinous and frightened. He still managed to glare at the short man who had invaded their home. He hadn't expected him to be so small or to have hair that damn bright. But that impossibly strong, dark ki that spoke of death clung to him like a second skin. Just as Sano had described it.
"Such idiocy this group displays." Battousai mused as he seated himself on the edge of Kaoru's futon with the grace of a cat. "Your shows of displeasure do not aid you."
To everyone's surprise it wasn't Sano, but Kaoru who replied to that. "Stupid, yes, but if you're going to kill us at least it will be by our own actions and not someone else's whims."
Battousai laughed. Kaoru flinched into Sano. When he finished, a lazy, mocking smile curled his lips.
"And you think you will die tonight, little human?"
Kaoru jerked her chin up, not trying to hide her fear or disgust. This… was supremely stupid. "I know the stories and I know that you do little else. What other purpose would you have for coming here?"
He blurred. In the next second she had been jerked forward by the front of her yukata until they were once again nose to nose, his yellow gaze burning into her. "Never assume what I shall do, human. Death is the least of your concerns."
Suddenly she was grasped from behind and ripped backwards.
"Leave her out of this, Battousai." Sano demanded his voice sharp with concern.
Battousai merely leaned back with a smirk, eyes lazily sliding down her body before returning to her face, the edges of his mouth curled into a malicious smile. Kaoru jerked the edges of her sleep wear back together and glared at him.
"As I was saying," he said, his eyes gliding over the defiant expression of Yahiko and Sano. "Is that I have not come for your deaths, but for an entirely different reason."
Sano stiffened.
"I am here to claim insult and take possession of not only this dojo, but all its occupants."
Kaoru flinched against Sano as if she had been shot.
"What?" Her words were ground out between her teeth as she struggled to reign in her temper. Attacking him would have been even stupider than what she was already doing.
Sano moved quickly, wrapping his much stronger arms around Kaoru's small frame protectively.
Battousai smiled languidly at the furious girl, Megumi's laughter a soft echo behind him.
"Claim insult little human, it's my right."
Yahiko choose that moment to speak. "She is not a vampire."
He shrugged, his aura darkening to a pitch color, "She knows of our world and is therefore subject to our rules, isn't that why you wished to keep her from those who have the power to make such declarations?"
Kaoru allowed herself to still in Sano's arms as the horror of the situation dawned on her. Her family's dojo, her father's sword technique, was being claimed by nothing short of a monster.
Not while she had breath.
"No." Kaoru responded. She almost shrank when she saw the look in his eyes change from faintly amused to cold calculation.
"No?" His tone had hardened to match his gaze, but Kaoru refused to back down. Something writhed under her skin and she found herself unable to hold back her words.
"No."
"And how exactly do you plan on stopping me little human?" He was close again, close enough for the edges of his ki to brush hers causing her to shudder, something inside of her was both repelled and attracted by the darkness he seemed to hold in his body.
Kaoru jerked her chin up. "You have no right to claim insult against me."
He stepped back then, his eyes suddenly switching from frozen ice to amused flames.
"No? Tell me, little human, is it not your school that claims my name and brands me as not only a 'sword that protects,'" The disgust in his voice set Kaoru's temper on edge again, "But also aligns me with humans?"
Kaoru refused to be baited. "I never claimed such a thing, Battousai, and do not hold that you go to my school or ever shall." Her eyes narrowed. "What possible interest could you have in my family's style of teaching?"
Kaoru let out a sharp squeak when she was suddenly yanked forward against a hard chest, her eyes catching the sight of red a single second before a sharp pressure on her neck told her of his intentions.
Battousai carefully extended enough pressure to make her uncomfortable, delighting in the rapid beat of her heart and the ragged pattern of her breathing. And yet, her body was stiff in his arms, her muscles straining as she tried to push away from him. He had met and killed those whose skills were far beyond hers, who were far more beautiful… and who certainly had more of a right to live than a mere human. And she knew it, on some level. Yet, here she was, trembling in fear and refusing to bend to the pressure of his ki against her own.
How amusing.
Then he felt it.
Something flickered across her ki. It was vibrant and strong enough to catch his attention. Testing a theory, he leaned over and caught her ear with a fang. She jerked against him and the spark in her ki slapped against his in warning.
How interesting. In a human, of all things.
"You are pushing lines that are not yours to tread." He warned her, his hot breath puffing across her ear. Deliberately he let his lips brush her skin with each word and she wiggled against him.
Kaoru struggled as much as she was able before his hands tightened. "I will not let you destroy my father's life's work."
Sano restrained Yahiko, who was furiously attempting to get to the girl held so carefully in Battousai's hands. There was something odd about the two, as if their ki repelled and attracted each other.
"If you get yourself killed, Kaoru will be pissed and do something stupid." Sano warned. It wasn't as if Jou-chan hadn't already done something stupid, challenging Battousai could be considered immensely stupid, but there was something that was… off about the whole situation.
Kaoru stumbled and tripped over the edge of the futon when he suddenly pushed her away from him. She landed in a heap next to Sano, blue eyes large in her face.
"Well then, if you will not let me claim insult on your dojo… I won't."
Sano froze. Then his heart sank at the next words than fell from the vampire's lips.
"I'll simply claim you."
X
Yahiko leaned back against the chest that Kaoru kept her clothes in, hands clenched tightly in his lap. Kaoru seemed oblivious except for the signs of strain that not even sleep had erased from her face. Battousai had left not long after his declaration of ownership, leaving behind a stunned and silent Kaoru. Unfortunately, the closing of the door seemed to have snapped her out of her dazed state and it had taken both Sano and Yahiko sitting on her to keep her from going after the red-haired man. The obscenities she had been snarling under her breath could have gotten them all killed but the vampire never returned.
Yahiko wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed. "He is baiting her. Why?"
"I don't know." Sano muttered, his eyes watching Kaoru breathe, the gentle rise and fall of her chest. It had been a sound that had brought much comfort to him many nights past, but this night it only brought a reminder of the danger she was now in.
"Why would he claim her?" Yahiko questioned tiredly. Reaching up he rubbed his upper lip, trying to ignore the tingling that demanded he feed soon.
"I'm not sure Yahiko, but I think he sees the same thing in Kaoru that we do." Sano replied carefully. "And I think he is curious."
'Hopefully nothing more.'
"I need to feed." Yahiko said finally, mouth set in a hard line. Sano rubbed his jaw and silently agreed with him. The amount of energy they had been throwing in this Gohei plot and then the antics tonight had left him feeling empty. They both needed blood.
Sano stood and pulled Yahiko up with him. "Battousai and his pet have left and I doubt anything is going to happen to her if we leave her here for a few hours."
'Even if he comes back what the hell can we do?'
Yahiko hesitated as he looked at Kaoru's peaceful face. "What if he comes back before we get here?"
"I hate to say it Yahiko, but we can't do a hell of a lot to protect her even if we are here. Besides, for now, he's toying with her. I don't think he plans on killing her just yet."
'Especially if their ki is anything to judge them on… what the fuck was that?'
Yahiko finally nodded and followed Sano out of the Dojo grounds.
X
Kaoru waited till she felt the last of the Sano's ki disappear before she rose to her feet and swiftly changed into her practice clothing. She supposed what she had been doing could have been considered some kind of lying… but by the kami, she needed to work out some of her tension before she exploded. She almost snapped her hakama strings her hands were shaking so badly. She needed to push her muscles until they burned, needed to feel the weight of wood in her hands.
Walking over, Kaoru grasped the bokken she favored and headed toward the dojo. Carefully she scanned the dojo grounds before jogging across the open courtyard and into the dojo. Sliding the door shut behind her, she lit a single candle and started to work. She didn't intend to stop until the candles spluttered out.
Sweating and hot, she eventually stood in the dark and finally felt stable enough to consider what she had gotten herself into. Battousai claimed that he owned her. Kaoru's eyes narrowed in frustration. There was nothing she could do to challenge him. He was so much stronger than even her boys. This was no Gohei who chose to fight with cheap tricks and brute force, but a so-called Vampire Lord who held far too much trickery behind his gaze.
"For a human, you have some skill with the bokken."
The words came from nowhere and were laced with an amused contempt that had every hair on the back of her neck lifting. Twisting around, she found herself facing the dark-eyed female who traveled with Battousai. Unease flickered through.
"You should be frightened, human. I know not which kami chose to spare your life, but it will not hold its hand on you forever. Batts is not known to let your kind to live for long."
Kaoru glared back fiercely, her already strained temper snapping in hot anger. Kaoru was startled when she felt something slither through her veins… and the shadows were suddenly a lot clearer. Startled, her gaze flickered to the widening eyes of the vampire in front of her. Swallowing her sudden apprehension, she let her temper cover her fear. She shifted her feet and held the tip of her bokken up in warning as the woman moved forward.
"Do not threaten my family." Kaoru warned her voice low, backed with the steel.
Megumi narrowed her dark gaze. "Is that a threat?"
"I may not be able to fight either you or him on terms of strength or speed, but there are other ways."
Megumi made as if to slap her, but long fingers wrapped around her wrist. The woman backed down, but her lips where pulled into a tight line.
"Don't touch her."
His tone was almost mild but there was an edge to it. It wasn't until the vampire woman hissed that Kaoru realized that the darkness there wasn't meant for her. Swallowing, she moved uneasily when Megumi disappeared, leaving her with Battousai.
"Threatening Megumi isn't a wise course of action." His hot breath brushed her ear. Kaoru flinched forward. How had he gotten behind her? When had he gotten behind her?
A long arm wrapped around her waist halted her forward movement; Kaoru shuddered in a reaction born by sudden fear.
"You should fear me little human." Battousai breathed in her ear; his lips so close they brushed her skin.
Kaoru twisted, bringing the blunt end of her Bokken into his chest, forcing herself out of his arms. She yelped when she was slammed forward by the back of her neck, her arms bracing her hit against the wall of the dojo. Her bokken clattered against the floor as he forced her neck to arch under his grip.
"That almost hurt."
He breathed the words against the skin of her neck and she shuddered in revulsion even as her brain quickly ran over what he said. It seemed even the untouchable Battousai was susceptible to the pain of wood and Kaoru figured she must have, on some stoke of luck, hit skin.
"It was supposed to." Kaoru ground out, her words coming out pain filled.
"You are owned by me now." He reminded her, his tone edged. "Get used to it."
"No."
The word was torn from her against her will and she gasped as he forced her spine to arch – or her neck to snap. It was difficult to breathe and she was staring to see spots. In response, whatever it was that had been crawling across her skin writhed and she almost fell to the floor when he dropped her.
There was a long pause and then his low, amused voice broke the silence. "I suggest you get some sleep. Tomorrow you will have much to do."
Kaoru wrapped her arms around herself, wincing at the pain in her shoulder and neck. Why had he let her go? Shaking hands reached over and awkwardly picked up her bokken. The trip back to her room was a full out retreat.
Battousai watched the human as she disappeared into her room and looked down at his hand, the way he could still feel energy crawling across his skin in warning.
Whatever it was that was in her, it responded to his touch. His threat to dominate her body had brought it out this time… he was curious if there were other ways to bring this pulsing energy to the surface. There was something amiss about this Kamiya Kaoru and once he found out what it was…
Once he knew what it was it was a matter of breaking it to his will or removing it entirely. But for now his claim on her skin and scent would keep any under class vampire from trying to take what was his.
X
Gohei flexed his damaged hand, starring at the dojo in front of him with narrowed eyes. Not long, now. Not long at all.
'Revenge.'
X
Sano yawned as he watched Yahiko stir the morning rice, his hair sticking in gravity defying manner that had prompted his nickname. "How much longer?"
"Would you rather cook this?" Yahiko demanded, his eyes wandering to the pot of boiling soup.
"And why does the girl not cook it?" The voice Sano had come to associate with Megumi slid over his senses and he had to clench his fists to keep from reacting.
"Because we don't want to have to deal with the consequences if she accidentally kills you," Yahiko said angrily.
Sano turned, his normal cocky grin falling into place. Battousai scared the shit out of him, but this woman... he knew how to handle broads. "See that patch of dirt where nothing grows? That is the leftovers from her last attempt at Miso."
Sano lurched forward as something heavy, Kaoru's fist he suspected, crashed into the back of his head. "It's also where I am going to bury you, tori-atama, if you don't shut up."
Sano rubbed the back of his in annoyance more than pain and turned to his landlady.
"Watch it Jou-chan, that actually hurt."
Kaoru glared at him. "Next time it will be two chopsticks I am going to shove..."
"Enough."
Kaoru pressed her lips into a flat line; her shoulders tense. Yahiko served the meal a few moments after that. In an attempt to ignore the dark aura that had settled over the table Sano decided to question Kaoru on her activities for the day.
"I have to go teach at the dojo across town." Kaoru said simply, refusing to offer anything more than that with a calculating gold gaze carefully watching them all.
Kaoru disappeared quickly after the meal was finished. The sound of the outer gate opening and closing was almost too loud in the kitchen and Yahiko gripped his knuckles together tightly under the table.
Battousai for his part seemed amused by the situation. Half-lidded eyes studied them.
"Strength," He murmured, his eyes landing on Sano before switching to Yahiko. The edges of his mouth curled just enough to show a hint of his fangs. "Foresight."
"Death." Sano said flatly.
"Close enough," Battousai said, unconcerned.
"Why did you bring Kaoru into this?" Yahiko question angrily.
"She brought herself into this." Battousai said mildly.
"That didn't give you the right to claim her." Sano remarked his eyes hard. He may have been born with the gift of strength, but he was no match for the power he could feel coiling inside the vampire in front of him.
"I always claim what is mine." He stood, dusting the back of his legs. "Come, we will see if we can find this Gohei and deal with him accordingly."
Neither man stood. "Or we can stay here and when Kaoru comes back we can find out how many ways a bone can break before there are far too many pieces to be break again."
Battousai smirked when he felt them move in behind him, their ki glowing hot with anger.
X
Kaoru walked back into her dojo, her face furious. "Damn it!"
She leaned against the porch and pressed her knuckles to her forehead, taking deep even breaths. She would not cry. Not over this. She had arrived at the dojo only to find that she was not wanted. She could handle that. It was the accusations that her students were killers that hurt so damn bad.
She had to get control of herself. She had to think. Without the additional income things would be tight. She needed to figure out a way to supplement the meager yen she had been bringing in by teaching. And she needed to do it… Her thought process died as the sun was blocked from her back. A second later a large, meaty hand fell on her shoulder.
"So, Kamiya, you're finally alone."
She barely had time to bring her bokken up. The edge of his katana bit into her shoulder and her bokken was ripped out of her hand. Before she could roll away from him to regroup, his meaty hand grabbed the back of her gi. Lifting her off her feet, he shook her like a puppy.
"You will sign the papers this time, Kamiya." Gohei's face was twisted into a sneer. "Yes… I think you will."
Kaoru struggled furiously. "I will do no such thing."
"But there is no one here to protect you from my men this time." He shifted to the side, allowing her to see the six or seven filthy, travel stained men who where leering at her.
"Men who have not seen a woman for a long time and none as clean as you."
X
Battousai frowned as felt a shift in the air, a slight change that the he couldn't exactly place. Turning he left his companions behind easily as he melted into the crowd.
"Where the hell is he going?" Yahiko growled to the woman beside him, his dislike of her bright in his voice.
"Batts does what he wants to do. We have our orders." Megumi replied as she moved like silk along the streets. "I suggest you do as he said or it's the life of not only you but that human as well."
Sano let out a low growl before stalking after her.
Yahiko frowned as something tickled in his mind before a sharp image of Kaoru being thrown into someone crossed his vision.
"Kaoru's in trouble." Yahiko breathed before turning toward the Dojo, only to be stopped by Megumi.
"We have our orders." Megumi snapped back, her eyes narrowed. "It's your death wish.
Sano bared his teeth at her in warning reaching out and grabbing her wrist. Yanking her against his chest, he snarled down at her. "Kaoru matters more than orders. Don't think for one second she doesn't."
X
Kaoru shut her eyes in an attempt to block out the sight in front of her. Gohei was all but taunting them with her body. The sound of seams popping in her shoulder had her wincing. Twisting around, she swung her foot out in an attempt to catch Gohei in the groin. No way was she going to be raped without a fight. But was saving herself worth her father's dojo?
Her kick hit thin air and Gohei laughed. She could feel his muscles bunching to throw her among the men and she readied herself grimly.
"Let her go."
Kaoru's eyes widened at the tone in that voice. It was coldly furious and there was darkness like an edge. She shivered.
"With pleasure," Gohei responded before tossing her into the nearest man, Kaoru gasped for air as his putrid smell filled her nose. Hot hands pushed at her hips and up her waist until she was jerked away by her hair. She bit her cheek hard to keep from crying out as she crashed into a body that smelled of blood and ginger.
"Who do you think you are, shrimp?" Gohei demanded angrily, towering over them both.
Gohei started when the stranger tossed his bangs back to show dark gold eyes that were burning in anger.
"Battousai!" Gohei breathed in surprise.
He smirked. "Good. Then you'll know why you died. No one touches what is mine."
Kaoru shuddered at his tone, her eyes wide as he reached for the katana at his hip.
"And make no mistake." Battousai said quietly, anger sharp in his tone, "She is mine."
'All of her.'
X
A hooded and cloaked figure watched the scene, his dark red eyes bleeding with interest.
"Then shall you protect her from me as well, Battousai? Will you get angry?"
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