Just a little over twenty pages, I hope all of you are nice and happy. Blood Dawn, unfortunately, is arguing with me on how it should be written so there is doubt that it will be out this week.
This Chapter is starting to get a bit more adult, and the next will most definitely hint at darker things. This is my warning that future chapters will hint at rape, sex, mature language and other adult themes. This story is meant to be dark so there will be such things involved. If you are not old enough to read the upcoming content then please do not.
I will be earning my R rating before this is over. Most likely the NC17 parts (if I find the time to write the added bits) will be posted else where. I will be sure to make notes of it in my author's notes and leave directions on how to locate them.
This chapter does not have any NC17 content but others will.
What can I say, I have some sick characters.
In addition, for all of you who want to know whom the red eyed man is. read to find out. Most of you, however, guessed it right on the dot.
Besides that, please enjoy.
Ravyn
Remember I do not own Kenshin, Kaoru, Sano, Megumi, Yahiko, or any other Rurouni Kenshin character that I decide to bring in.
Beta Note:
Rain Kamori: Is that another chappie for Rain to edit?!! *makes mad dash for amber linings* XD *trips over a loose page* O.o *splat* T_T hehe. Enjoy you guys. And remember no flames only praises for our exceptional author Ravyn.
Kaoru was completely confused as to what was going on. The Battousai was.she did not want to call it protecting, but it was something odd.
Gohei on the other hand was terrified. Kaoru felt a faint stab of pity for the man, his face had bleached of color, and he appeared to be on the verge of fainting. It seemed that the vapors where not something limited to woman.
"Pathetic." The Battousai hissed his voice a tightly controlled whisper that sent shivers down Kaoru's spine. His voice was again that smooth combination of silk and darkness.
"What.what are you doing here?" Gohei practically whimpered, his words tumbling over themselves as if he knew they would be the last words he spoke to the near silent Dojo grounds. Grounds that he had long since coveted and watched from afar.
The Battousai gave him a bored look, his eyes conveying his distaste. "I don't think that is any of your concern; you will soon no longer be among the so called living." His voice was flat and darkly amused.
Kaoru turned her head towards the Battousai's back, her eyes darkening with surprise at his harsh tone. Shifting she wrinkled her nose when his silky hair clung to her face and tickled her nose.
Kaoru sighed, muttering to herself, shifted again and breathed deeply in relief when she saw Yahiko and Sano. Even if Sano was carrying Megumi; much to Kaoru's surprise.
"Busu," Yahiko grumbled as he skidding to a halt. "Are you alright?" There was actually worry in his eyes, and Kaoru was quick to reassure him.
"I am fine Yahiko." Kaoru assured, ignoring the painful pulsing of her shoulder, and the protective arm holding her to the Battousai's side.
The Battousai angled his head to shoot her a thoughtful look before he gave her a rather hard push back at Sano. "Don't think about leaving." He warned the fighter. "I am much faster than you could ever hope to be." The underlying threat was clear.
With that, Kaoru heard the unsheathing of his Katana; faster than the eye could follow the Dojo grounds became littered with bodies. They fell like puppets whose strings had been carefully cut.
The mutilation was horrific -screams dying as soon as they started-, and she could practically feel the echoes of torture. Sometimes he would leave a man alive, missing some important part of his body, and after his screams started to grate on his nerves, the fool's head would roll and his body would collapse. Kaoru turned and buried her head in Sano's arm in an attempt to hide from the sight.
Then, if Kaoru had any thoughts of trying to walk around the carnage to leave the scene of battle, Sano had her in his arms and was moving towards the dojo. To her surprise, there was no protest from the Battousai.
Peaking over the top of Sano's shoulders Kaoru watched as Kenshin reached Gohei. The man had appeared to wet himself and was standing with his sword trembling in his hands.
Kaoru did not see what happened next, Sano moved around the edge of the Dojo too quickly, but she heard him scream. It lasted longer than any of the others.
Yahiko watched Sano move back into the Dojo and then sighed. Kaoru's eyes had been very wide, and he wondered if perhaps he or Sano should sit with her tonight. She was going to wake up screaming and they did not want the Battousai to use it as an excuse to hurt her.
He looked up, the hairs on the back of his neck tingling, and was surprised to see the Battousai watching him. Ignoring him, he began to collect the dead bodies' -sometimes in pieces-, quickly stacking them to be removed later. It would not do any good for Kaoru to be sick later if, and when, she left the Dojo.
Besides, the smell of warm blood was causing his teeth to ache.
"How did you know?" The question was soft, and if the Battousai thought it odd that he was being questioned, he said nothing. His eyes did narrow in an expression that Yahiko could not place, but he made no move to touch Yahiko.
Placing the blade to his mouth, he ran his tongue along the edge cleaning the steel. Yahiko wondered, in a moment of sick awe, how he managed not to cut his tongue off. Yahiko had never seen iron as sharply honed as the blade the Battousai so casually played with.
"It doesn't matter." The Battousai's voice was flat and dark, his tone telling Yahiko that he would not go into detail. His eyes sparked with the faint flare of Ki that went with the drinking of blood and Yahiko could suddenly see why he was addicted to death.
Yahiko watched him enter the Dojo with an expression that was a cross between disgust and terror. "Then I wouldn't have asked." Yahiko whispered to the empty courtyard, his own voice hard. Someone who could kill and drink of life as easily at the Battousai did was a man who had no business with Kaoru.
~*~
Kaoru was busy slapping away Sano's prying fingers when a hand closed around her upper arm and she was hauled forward, her feet barely brushing the ground.
"Don't lie." It was a harsh command and Kaoru bristled at his tone, the demand for obedience from a man she neither respected nor liked, only feared.
"I don't." Kaoru retorted; neither caring nor questioning what exactly caused her to be so tongue in cheek where this man was concerned. His ease for removing breath from human bodies was apparent but that only seemed to encourage the way she toed the line around him.
The Battousai paused, turning his head he looked down at her, their faces close together thanks to their alike height. His lips twisted into some variation of a smirk, and then he twisted her sore arm painfully to the side, stressing her already throbbing shoulder to the point of suppressed tears.
Kaoru gave a hiss of pain; then found herself being dragged forward again. "It wouldn't have hurt if you hadn't yanked on it." Kaoru growled her voice faint with defiance even as the strength of his grip and the darkness of his Ki robbed her of breath.
Because she was behind him, she missed the flash of amber in his gaze. He moved so fast that Kaoru was again twisted off balance as she was pushed up against the door, wondering how he always managed to catch her off guard.
"Never question me." His warm breath fell across her face and she forced herself, again, to hold his burning gaze. "I have been generous so far in dealing with you, little human, do not make me regret it."
Kaoru was not sure how long he stood there, one hand next to her head, the other griping her arm gently; his furious gaze burning into hers.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Megumi's voice questioned, her tone dark, the irritation in her voice apparent and seemingly unapologetic.
The Battousai simply moved back, his eyes never leaving Kaoru's trembling form. "Her arm." His voice was silky, and the darker undercurrents suggesting that perhaps it wasn't exactly her arm that his thoughts, and eyes, were drawn to.
Spinning quickly, he was gone.
Megumi sighed in vexation. "I hate healing humans." Megumi stoutly refused to take into consideration that she had once been human; that would cause her to hurt. And Megumi never hurt if she could help it. However, causing pain in others, especially children such as this with well-placed words, well that was child's play.
Kaoru gasped in surprise when Megumi's pale hands brushed against her shoulder, causing the stinging sensation to disappear. She stared wide eyed at Megumi when something -whatever it was that seemed to be haunting her blood lately- jumped up and ran along the path Megumi's hands followed.
Megumi eyed her for a moment, her gaze as sharp as the sword the Battousai wielded. "Are you sure you're human?" Her tone was mocking, meant to leave an impression and echo back into the girl's ears when she would least expected it.
Kaoru jerked back at that, her sea-dark eyes wide. "Yes." Her voice was fainter than she liked, her eyes showing hidden doubts to half-formed questions; almost formed shadows that would linger for agonizing moments of doubt.
Megumi gave a half shrug, her mouth twisting into a hard smirk, and then she turned and disappeared into the shadows, leaving a startled, vulnerable Kaoru behind her.
Megumi jumped slightly when a strong hand reached over and pulled her into a room. Megumi raised a cool brow at a furious Sano, her expression sliding into an uncaring concern.
"Why did you ask Jou-chan that particular question Kitsune?" Sano questioned irritably, his eyes hard chips of ice as if he knew the answer and was furious because of it.
Megumi looked amused, refusing to show how he had startled her. "Because it's the truth."
Sano pursed his lips as he looked at her. "What do you mean it's the truth? Jou-chan is human." His tone was firm, as if he was attempting to convince both Megumi and himself.
Megumi sighed in vexation, wondering if it was possible for a vampire to be any stupider. "Oh I will give you that, but tell me, how much of her is Human?"
Sano yanked her close at that, his face twisted into a snarl. "Jou-chan will become monsters like us!" Even as he spoke the word's he had to force the wiggling seed of doubt back. "She will never be like you or I...do you understand?"
Megumi laughed at that. "Oh you poor delusional fool. Do you think that Battousai would be interested in something that was human? Something that's much weaker and less than he is? I am telling you this; she is not a full human. I don't know what is quivering in her blood, but there is something and it's strong. Too strong. And whatever it is, he will either control it, or he will kill her."
Sano scowled down at her, absently in some part of his brain noticing the gentle overtones of cinnamon radiating from her skin, his gaze watching the flash of pride, amusement and something far too vulnerable echo in her gaze. Something he wanted to smooth away.
Sano pushed her away with something like a scowl. "You're wrong Kitsune."
Megumi raised a single brow in his direction. "Am I?"
Turning on her heel, she left Sano to himself, and the even darker questions her words had spurred.
Spinning he headed toward where he sensed Yahiko, knowing the young man was going to need to get some of his own frustrations worked off. Kaoru would be safe enough with all of the dark Ki that surrounded this place. Only an idiot would attack something that lived here.
Pulling out his fish bone he mutinously chewed, refusing to think about what that bitch had told him.
Kaoru was human. There was no way anyone as kind and pure as she was could have the blood of his race running through her veins. Even if her ability to touch people could almost be a gift, even if her looks where unnatural for a mortal. It didn't matter, Kaoru had been raised in the mortal world, and that was where she was going to stay.
He hoped.
~*~
Kaoru, in a fit of frustration, blew angrily on the bangs that fell playfully into her eyes. Her hands, moving quickly with the washrag in her hands, removed gunk and grim that stuck to the dishes from breakfast.
She had promised Yahiko that she would finish up the breakfast cleaning, and she had meant it. Kaoru let out a low growl and gripped the bowl tightly in her hands, her frustrations at the current situation growing, the anger showing in her Ki.
Sano had apparently forgotten -or simple not cared- that she was able to hear and that the Dojo had very thin walls. Not to mention the fact that she was just in the kitchen. Taking Megumi aside where their voices would echo down the hallway had been both stupid and enlightening.
Kaoru, for the moment, forgot the fact that she was holding a bowl and washing the dishes. In her minds eye she was mentally strangling every single male who was currently staying under her roof.
It was difficult to understand why everyone insisted she was more than she was. Her father had been human, and her mother had been human, so how in the world could she be part anything?
She was not stupid, she knew how Yahiko and Sano looked at her sometimes, and even if they denied it, she knew they wondered as well. How could something mortal befriend something of the shadows?
Did they not see that the past did not matter to her?
Then there was the Battousai, a man whose presence seemed to take up the entire room and slowly remove the ability to breathe from her lungs. He was darkness, sin, and all that was untouchable rolled into one. She was left feeling raw after an encounter with him, something that left her on edge and irritated.
It did not matter that his presence caused whatever it was she had been feeling lately to surge -like in the Dojo- did not matter that his face was perfection. That the scar only enhanced his dark looks or the fact that his eyes seemed to engrave themselves into her soul with each glance.
He was Vampire; she was Human. He was all things that she hated, everything that was denied to her human form. But damn it all if she wasn't the proverbial moth to the flame.
She hated herself for it.
Kaoru ducked her head, her knuckles turning white with the pressure she was exerting; then swore when she felt the fragile bowl break in her hand, the jagged end digging deeply into her palm. Blood surged to the surface and spilled down her wrist.
Kaoru let out another well placed explicit and felt around for the clean rag she normally kept close by for such purposes. Blood in a house full of vampires was something she attempted to keep at a minimal.
Kaoru dropped the jagged bowl into the sink decided to fish the pieces out later. Grasping the edge of the rag she was about to place it on the pulsing cut when she felt long, lean fingers wrap around her wrist, halting her movements.
Looking looked up startled both by the touch and the gentle possessiveness the movement conveyed, something that sent her stomach into convulsions, she froze when she met eyes the color of molten moonlight.
She starred at him, both wondering at his interference and the odd look in his eyes. Kaoru stiffened when she recognized it. Blood lust. His grip did not need to be any stronger; the faint touch promised retribution if she but moved it a hairs breath.
"Must I watch you all the time?" The Battousai questioned smoothly, the forefinger of his right hand traveling above the running blood, hunger lacing his tone. "You seem to be delightfully attracted to hurting yourself little human."
His mouth curved into another of those sinful smiles, leaving her utterly speechless. "Of course, if you need a constant babysitter perhaps I should confine you somewhere...more appealing? Perhaps your room, or to your futon."
His eyes seemed to glow darkly for a split second and Kaoru was shaken by the utter desire she saw. Every heartbeat seemed to be strained as she felt the slow slide of blood on her forearm.
"Battousai..." Kaoru growled darkly, her eyes flashing. She was vulnerable, she knew it and by the almost amused look in his eyes, he knew it as well. Kaoru felt the faint trembling start in her veins, the foreign sensation of control. However, this only seemed to delight the Battousai instead of warn him off.
He was playing with her.
He leaned forward until their noses touched, his warm breath puffing over her lips causing her to suck in a deep lungful of air in surprise. His movements where quick enough that she had to strain to keep up with him. "Kenshin."
"What?" Her voice was faint as she tried to think of something other than the soft brush of his bangs against hers. The soft hold on her burning hand a stark reminder of the vulnerability of the situation, the fact that he was close enough to brush his lips to hers.
A human, something that should have repulsed him; Sano and Megumi's words echoed strangely in her ears.
"My name, little human, is Kenshin." He watched her from carefully guarded eyes, eyes that flickered with strange lights, and then he reached over, and tugged the clean cloth from her good hand. Slowly, as if mocking the fact that she was powerless to stop him he placed the gushing wound into his mouth.
Gently he ran his tongue over the bleeding skin, his tongue pulling off the excess blood. He repeated his actions with deliberate slowness, the motions soothing the torn, aching skin. His eyes never left hers, as if he was watching for something. Kaoru sucked in another lungful, her eyes wide as she watched his tongue flick out repeatedly.
Once he had completely cleaned off the jagged cut, he wrapped the laceration. Then he moved, bringing her arm up higher, his mouth slithering across the trail of blood that had dripped down her arm.
"You should have Megumi look at this." His voice was again in that dangerous silky voice, his tongue snaking out to clean off his bottom lip in a slow, savoring move. "I would hate for it to bleed too much." There was a rich tone of want in his voice, and knowing that it was caused by her, her blood sent her insides to shivering.
Kaoru stared at him, not really sure how to handle the situation, knowing suddenly that any aggressive move on her part would have her on the floor. Human blood acted as an stimulate for vampires, teasing to life the senses that most humans took for granted.
Home FanFiction Ravyn Amber Linings