Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Aka Tenshi ❯ Vol. four, Chap. twenty-three: Underground City ( Chapter 23 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Tokyo was not safe for Kaoru anymore. Boss had started using her friends as pawns to kill her. The Rat Pack was starting to close in on them. The vessel had become a liability to Aka Kenshin. She had to go into hiding again. Aka Kenshin took three days to look for the right spot. He decided to hide her underground. He began to remember the best place for fugitives hiding from God.


Night fell over Tokyo. Aka Kenshin came by Kaoru’s window and tapped on the glass. The girl was already awake and waiting for him in the dark on her bed. She had no emotion on her face. Only her eyes glowing in the dark gave a sign that she was still alive. The fallen angel smirked in his mind. Kaoru had turned out to be the perfect obedient doll. Kaoru looked up and saw him. She walked over to the window and opened it. Aka Kenshin stuck in his head.


“Ready to go?” he whispered.


Kaoru nodded quickly. “Yes.” The angel quietly took the vessel into his arms and shield his cloak around her. He leapt off the window and floated away into the sky. Kaoru shut her eyes and held on tight. She gave all of her faith to this beautiful, heartless man. They disappeared in a flash.


Kaoru opened her eyes moments later and looked around. The smell of burning incense flooded her nose. She lifted her head for a better. Gold swallowed up everything in sight. She couldn’t pinpoint where she was. A flooding stream tickled her ears with their music. The girl looked above her. There was no sky; only an endless canvas of gold. Her fingers touched plush, carpet-like material. She looked around for her angel. Aka Kenshin was nowhere in sight. Once again, he had abandoned her. However, Kaoru wasn’t crushed this time. “He’s just busy with other things,” the girl thought. “He’s only trying to keep me safe.” Then, she noticed a thin red string tied around her left wrist.


“What’s this?” she thought. Kaoru found the knot and pulled it loose. The thread turned into a small piece of paper and fell on the ground. Curious, she picked it up and unfolded it. Her eyes widened at what she saw.


“A message from Kenshin-sama!” she thought. The girl read it closely.


“Girl, I have placed you underground. Just down the road is the city itself,” Kaoru read. “Move quickly. And don’t stop moving.” Kaoru looked at the path ahead of her. There wasn’t a road in front of her. Only a long path of dry, golden yellow grass. But still, she had to keep moving. Aka Kenshin told her to. Kaoru pushed herself to her feet and started walking.


The underground felt warm all around her. Almost muggy, even. The girl had to unbutton her blouse some for relief. Good thing the grass was like a plush carpet under her feet. Made her trip much easier to bare. Kaoru finally came up to a sign at the entry of a city at the bottom of the hill. She looked at Aka Kenshin’s message again. Then, she looked down the hill again. “This is the place,” she thought. The vessel began her walk down the hill. Here, the thin air slowly became cooler. Kaoru began to relax and take it all in. “Almost like the park at home,” she thought. Once at the bottom of the hill, the vessel read the message again.


“Walk all the way to the Beelzebub Tavern; some people who owe me are waiting for you there,” she read aloud. “Keep walking and don’t look at anyone.” The vessel looked up and ahead of her. “Okay,” she thought as she nodded quickly to herself. The girl got into position and started to run. “I will keep myself save, Kenshin-sama!” she thought with each step. Not a single person was in sight; but Kaoru didn’t look. She was too busy running towards her destination as she was told.


The girl raced all the way to the Beelzebub Tavern. She stopped for a moment to catch her sweet breath. The girl lifted her head to get a better look. A tavern? This place was more a cathedral! The tallest point seemed to disappear into the endless golden top. The old, black wild west style door creaked as they swung open from the slightly gust of wind. The inside looked abandoned. She was expected to hide here? Kaoru wrinkled up her nose as she steadied her confused mind.


“If he wants me to go in…” she thought. Kaoru slowly lifted her feet and began walking into the tavern. She pushed through the doors and walked inside.


“Hello?” she asked. “Is anybody here?” The vessel took baby steps into the building as she swept the whole place with her eyes. Sure looked run-on and vacant. A small chill crawled up her spine. Her footsteps slowed down to the point that she almost wasn’t walking anymore. She tried to walk softer for the broads under her feet started to creak. Kaoru darted her eyes around the dark tavern again.


“Hello?” she whispered again. “Is anybody here?” Suddenly, a head peered up from behind the counter. They both saw each other right away.


“Who are you?” they asked at the same time. There was a moment of silence. Kaoru shuffled her feet in place for a little bit.


“Well…” she began. “I was sent here by Kenshin-sama and…”


“Hold up,” the head said behind the counter. “Did you say Kenshin-sama?”


“Yes,” the girl said with a nod. The head stood to reveal that it belonged to a the body of a plump woman. She looked Kaoru up and down for a moment. An odd look came over her face.


“You’re not what I was expecting to look like,” she said at last. “My you’re such a skinny thing!” Kaoru blinked as her face looked just as vacant as her surroundings.


“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked. The woman didn’t answer. Instead, she turned her head to the back rooms behind her.


“Everyone!” she yelled. “Aka Kenshin’s vessel’s here!” Kaoru watched as eight more people came out to the front. They all looked like a pack of gypsies hiding from the law. A tall, muscled man who was dressed like a pirate walked up to her. He too looked the girl up and down. Kaoru waited with dull and worn eyes. A smile came onto the man’s face.


“Welcome Kaoru!” he boomed. “We have been expecting you!” For once since Aka Kenshin took her from the house, the girl began to finally show some emotion on her face. A serene smile finally escaped to her lips. She bowed to them ever so politely.


“I thank you,” she said to them. “I will do my best to be a good guest during my stay.” The woman who first spoke to her smiled and shook her head.


“You don’t have to be so proper,” she said. “Just relax, okay?”
Kaoru gave her a little nod. “Okay. I’ll try.” The woman smiled as she patted her on the small, pale shoulder.


“’Ata girl!” she said. “Come on, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping for a while.” She walked the girl to the back of the tavern with the others following behind.


Outside the city, the Rat Pack had just showed up. They tracked Kaoru down by the energy leaking out through her frail body. Oh, how it smelt like honey to their noses. Doc turned to Bass.


“Lead us to her!” he commanded. The boy nodded with in somber silence. He closed his eyes and focused his energy on the path ahead of them. A sharp chill shot into his body like a rocket. The boy jerked his eyes open.


“There!” he shouted. “She’s all the way down into the city!” Doc turned to the direction that the youth was pointing in.


“Let’s go!” he barked.


“Yeah!” the rest of the Rat Pack cheered. Then, they rushed into the Underground City to begin the hunt again.