Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Tanabata Jasmine ❯ A Desperate Gambit ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin and associated characters - they all belong to that awesome Watsuki guy.

Tanabata Jasmine Chapter 5

A Desperate Gambit

“Perhaps he's just tired of the tanuki girl's violent ways,” Megumi said lightly. “He's run off to some other woman, flowers in hand. Oro! Save me from that sweaty woman! he'd say. I can see it now.”

Sano glowered at her from underneath the cloth draped on his damp head. He'd stopped dripping all over the clinic floor, at least. Megumi had thrust a mop into his hands and demanded he clean up after himself. “That's uncalled for, kitsune. Aren't you the least bit worried?”

“Iie,” she said shortly. “Market only closed two hours ago. Tae saw him just before that, you say? It's a little too soon to assume the worst. Ken-san's a big boy. Anyone would think you were his mother.”

He bit down (wonder of all wonders) on the scathing retort that rose to mind as she turned away from him. Her words, light and scornful, were at odds with the tense set of her shoulders as she opened the door to the adjoining room and stepped through. A moment later, she was speaking to someone else. The aforementioned patient, he assumed.

She was right, he supposed. Anything could have delayed Kenshin for a mere two hours. For all Sano knew, he could be helping some elderly woman get home in the rain.

Still … for Jou-chan's peace of mind, at least, he would find out where the rurouni had vanished to. He flipped the cloth, now soaked through, over the bench and headed for the exit.

“Sanosuke.”

He turned. Megumi stood framed in the doorway, an umbrella in hand. “If you're going to keep looking for him, take this. There's no point drying off if you're just going to get wet again.”

He gave her a crooked grin. “Can't give you extra work, eh?”

“Just take it!” she snapped, throwing it across the room. Before he could think of a witty rejoinder, she turned with a flick of her long hair and vanished from the room again.

Che! He flung open the door to the outside world and stepped back into the pouring rain, swinging the umbrella up over his head. Arigatou, stubborn woman.

Two places down. He wondered where to search next.

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The rain had long since plastered Kenshin's gi to his flesh. In one way, it was a blessing; the steady, cool beat of water sluicing over skin helped to keep him from sliding further under the influence of whatever Senzo had poisoned him with.

In many other ways, however, it was a hindrance. The path he had traveled to the cottage had long since been beaten into mud, and the teeming rain only served to cut what meager light there was to see by into almost nothing. He could barely see a few inches in front of his face. Twice now, he had fallen, sliding on treacherous footing and lacking the reflexes to stop himself from crashing to the ground.

The vertigo was getting worse, and he was only human. He kept a death grip on the sakabatou, and allowed the stirrings of anger within him to fuel his staggering run toward the city.

Why?

It had taken half an hour to walk a leisurely pace to Senzo's cottage. In the dark, in the rain, his senses slowly deserting him, the most he could be sure of was that he was heading in the right direction.

Why go to all this effort?

With the full benefit of hindsight, his mind raked over his meeting with the merchant. How he had been waiting, on the path to the Kamiya dojo. How easily he had used Kenshin's distraction over Kaoru to his benefit. How he had been drawn from the main streets of Tokyo on the twin threads of guilt and compassion, so he could be poisoned without fuss or witnesses.

What did he do to me?

His first reaction had been flight; in unfamiliar territory, blood moving sluggishly in his veins, his only desire, to find his way back to Kaoru. The plot had been well thought out, and possibly not solely aimed at him; he was afraid for her safety. Now, as he moved, he thought more logically. He would be of no good to anyone like this. Best to go to Oguni Clinic and seek help from Megumi—

He tripped again, this time over his own feet, and sprawled headlong into the mud. Filthy water invaded his mouth and he rolled onto his side, coughing. His vision swam, blurred and then darkened. He spat curses with the dirt and reeled upright once more, supported by the sakabatou.

He wasn't going to make it back.

Considering this ominous knowledge, he focused his half-blinded gaze onto whitened knuckles until his vision began to clear. And he cursed again. Now, pausing to center himself in the rain, he could feel them; shadows at the edge of his senses, hunting him through the trees. Four, maybe five men, spread on either side of him. They were keeping their distance, and he was puzzled as to why.

He jerked the sheathed sakabatou out of the mud and stood there another moment, listening with dread to the sound of his own laboured breathing. Then he forced himself onward, reeling on his feet, waiting for an attack that never came. He was aware of their movement; they were keeping pace with him, nothing more.

They don't want to fight. They're waiting for me to fall.

Fury sparked within him - at their cowardice, at his own stupidity for not recognizing the jaws of a trap sooner. And yet … the fact that he was followed at all told him that whatever Senzo had given him was probably not fatal. Not if the merchant felt the need to send men after him in the rain.

Will you be able to fight in the dark?

“Always,” he whispered.

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The ex-hitokiri had fallen three times, so far.

Stalking him from a careful distance, Yoshida silently, grudgingly applauded him each time he rose to his feet and staggered on. It was an impressive show of will, to fight the effects of the merchant's sake for so long. Nevertheless, it was a battle Himura Kenshin was losing. Each time he fell, he took longer to recover himself. Yoshida would be surprised if the man could still see, let alone fight.

The group kept steady pace with their prey. The Battousai's reputation for deadliness enforced their patience. Provided he did not manage to struggle his way into town, there would be no need for conflict at all.

He jerked to full attention as Kenshin suddenly swayed on his feet and braced himself against the trunk of a nearby tree. Then, with a sigh, the ex-hitokiri collapsed, sliding down the bark to rest on his knees. He did not rise again.

It was time, then.

Yoshida stepped forward, making his way across the rain-drenched ground. His men followed suit. As the circle of five closed around the fallen man, his eyes traveled across the red hair, heavy with moisture and hanging in thick, mud-streaked strands across a pale, dirty face. His arms were slack against his side, one hand folded into his lap, the other still clutching the sakabatou.

Still clutching--?

He tried to call a warning, but even then it was too late. The blade flashed free of its sheathe. With a full-throated scream of anger, Himura Kenshin launched to his feet, swinging the unleashed sword up into a spiraling arc as he did so. The strike connected with a startled man's exposed throat; with a retching sound, the man was sent sprawling into the mud.

Kenshin braced himself against the tree and gripped the sakabatou with both hands, tip pointed at Yoshida's chest. His eyes were unfocused, and he was breathing heavily, but his aim was unerring.

“Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu,” he hissed through the rain, “Ryu Kan Sen. If you want my life, suffer the consequences.”

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::leaves more pocky for BakaBokken:: Hee! I like getting this second round of reviews from you, you say such wonderful things. ^_^

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