Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Tanabata Jasmine ❯ Twice Mistaken ( Chapter 11 )

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

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or associated characters. This gets old real quickly, doesn't it? Oh, well. Enjoy.

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Tanabata Jasmine Chapter 11

Her night of sleeplessness had begun to take its toll. Kaoru dozed against the dojo wall while Megumi fussed in the kitchen, making lunch. The doctor's offer to do so had come cushioned in her usual scorn, flatly stating her refusal to eat what she termed `tanuki brand' cooking. Today, Kaoru had let the insult slide. Despite her sharp tongue, Megumi was doing what she could to ease their taut nerves.

Her ankle had been strapped. Walking unaided was a simple enough affair, if she favoured her foot. Megumi had pronounced it mildly twisted; in a day or two, provided she took care not to stress it further in the meantime, Kaoru would be able to function normally. Despite the reassurance, Yahiko's taunt still stung. And really, a day or two could make all the difference where Kenshin was concerned.

Waiting for either Sanosuke or Yahiko to get back, and in absence of anything else to accomplish, she'd leaned against the dojo wall and drifted into much needed sleep.

It was broken, rudely, by the loud bang of a tofu bucket being tossed to the floor in front of her.

“Yo, Jou-chan,” Sanosuke said tiredly from the doorway. “Consider that payment for the kick this morning. Che! I put my life on the line to find out about Kenshin, and here you are sleeping. What's up with that?”

She pushed herself upright, still blinking the grit away from her eyes. “That's not funny, Sanosuke.”

“Eh. Don't take it personally. You alone? Tell me Megumi's still here.”

Her eyes had dropped to the bucket - her tofu bucket, stained with blood. The ramifications of its condition, let alone its very presence, began to sink in. Not nearly as fast as the ragged sound of Sano's voice, however. She glanced at him sharply, noticing what her first, sleep-blurred gaze had failed to see. There was blood on his chin and the back of his hands, but that in itself didn't shock her so much as the deep red stain down the front of his gi. His hand was pressed to his shoulder. Despite his injuries, he was grinning, although there was little humour to his smile.

Before she could yell for Megumi, the woman came into view behind Sanosuke. Her reaction was far more immediate. Face blanching white, she yelled abuse. “Baka tori atama! You went out to find information, not start a fight!”

“I didn't start a fight!” Sano said defensively as she pushed him into the dojo. “They jumped me. K'so, Megitsune, I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight against two guys with swords!”

“That's debatable,” was the wry response. Kaoru reached his side as Megumi forced him to sit, and together they pulled his gi from his shoulders. The shallow wound across his back became obvious, then, as well as the full extent of the injury to his shoulder. Megumi peeled cloth gently away from the edges of the wound, cursed faintly, and stood. “I'll get the medicine chest from the house. Try not to do anything stupid while I'm gone.”

Sanosuke glared as she left the dojo, and then turned back to Kaoru. “Sumanai,” he muttered. “I'm going to get blood on your floor.”

“Never mind about that,” she said sharply, wiping the blood away from his chin with the sleeve of her gi. A shallow cut there, too. “Sanosuke, what happened?”

“Went back to talk to the merchant,” he replied in flat tones. “Should've stayed and demanded answers the first time. He's the one who attacked Kenshin, Jou-chan. He was waiting for me to come back with his two goons. They don't want us chasing them down.”

She winced. There was an accusation, intended or no, in his words. She'd been the one to stop him from harassing the man. It seemed good intentions were only getting her into trouble, today. “That man ... was he good enough to win against Kenshin?”

Sano hesitated a moment, as if deciding what to tell her. Then he sighed. “I doubt he had anything to do with the attack itself, Jou-chan. The merchant said he drugged Kenshin. When you consider what we found, I have to assume Kenshin worked out something was wrong and tried to get home. If he was sick, or asleep on his feet, it probably wouldn't have taken much to stop him, regardless of how good he is.”

By the time he finished, his tone was uncharacteristically gentle. He studied her stricken face, and then added, “Jou-chan ... he's still alive. We'll get him back.”

She took a deep breath. Then another. Calming her thoughts, forcing the worry down far enough to be able to think logically. When she spoke, her voice was blessedly steady. “If he was drugged, then he's helpless. We have to find him. What about the men who attacked you?”

He gave an artless, one-sided shrug. “That's the good news. The merchant ran off. I suppose he bolted when he noticed I was going to win. But ... the two guys I put down, one of them had been hit by the sakabatou. I'm willing to bet he knows a bit. Made sure they weren't going anywhere, then I got a message to the police on the way here. They'll be picked up for violating the sword ban, at the very least. Did you tell them about Kenshin yet?”

“Yahiko did.” Megumi strode briskly back in, carrying the medicine chest. “Some time ago, now.”

With a start, Kaoru realised she was right. It was almost noon, and her student had yet to make reappearance. “He should've been back an hour ago.”

“Better round him up,” Sano suggested. “If I was a ten year old kid, and the man I looked up to most vanished into thin air, I know what I'd be doing.”

Searching in the streets, and probably none too subtly, either. And the merchant had produced two swordsmen to kill Sanosuke because he'd poked his nose in too far. They might not bother with a kid making a fuss, but ... Kaoru stood up. “I'll find him,” she said quietly.

“Don't be a fool,” Megumi snapped. “I just finished with that ankle.”

“The kitsune has a point,” Sano said. Helpfully. Infuriatingly. “I'll go.”

“Then you're a bigger twit than she is!”

“You said yourself I can walk on it, Megumi-san. Sanosuke's shoulder is a lot worse than my ankle.” Kaoru's voice was steady as she lifted her bokken from its stand. “And you can't go because of that. I'm the only one here with nothing to do. Anyway, I doubt they'll attack him in the middle of the street. There shouldn't be a problem.”

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He recognised the sheath, of course. After so many months of watching Kenshin dispatch his challengers with the sakabatou, of staring at that remarkable sword and daydreaming a future in which he held it, Yahiko would know it anywhere. The anger burned in him now, that the man he was following had dared to separate the sword from its wielder.

His very first inclination had been to challenge the man - to turn, take the shinai from his back and call him out in the middle of the street. Rare common sense had intervened before he could grip the handle of his weapon, and he had worked the situation through in his mind. Challenging the man was foolish. Even if he won, there was no prize but the sakabatou. Kenshin would still be missing. Granted, there probably wasn't anything particularly smart about sneaking after and spying on a man over twice his size, but Yahiko didn't let that bother him.

If he was careful enough - if he was lucky enough - his quarry would surely, eventually, lead him to where Kenshin was.

The man seemed in no particular hurry to get to his destination. Drifting through the busy street to the markets, he paused to speak to a merchant and exchanged polite greetings with an elderly woman. He was at least half a head taller than most people he passed. Yahiko fell back, allowing market-goers to filter between them. The man's height made him easy to spot, even from a distance. While he kept to the main streets, Yahiko would have no problem following him without being seen.

“Yahiko-kun!”

He jumped at the sound of his name, and glanced behind him. Tsubame, arms full of supplies and a hopeful smile on her face that under normal circumstances Yahiko would have loved to see. He fumbled for something to say that wouldn't be rude, flicking his gaze briefly back to his quarry. The man had paused, apparently to discuss leather work with another merchant.

“Oi, Tsubame. Why are you here?” He winced as her smile faded to uncertainty. Try again, baka. “Sumanai ... I didn't mean it that way. Are you buying supplies for Tae?”

“Hai, I'm almost done.” She glanced down at his empty hands before giving him a shy look, the smile returning. “Are you here to buy something?”

“Huh? Oh, I'm ...” He paused, thinking quickly. Explaining what he was actually doing would take too long, and wouldn't be particularly smart. The man was not so far ahead that overhearing their conversation was impossible. “Aa, I'm ... buying the ... tofu.”

“Tofu?”

Of course, that would be more believable if he had the bucket with him. Baka again! Seems to be the day for not thinking ahead. He opened his mouth to rectify his mistake, but she cut him off with a thoughtful look on her face as if she'd just remembered something. “Did Kenshin-san get home alright last night?”

He froze at the name, eyes shifting to the man ahead. Did he tilt his head a fraction of an inch? Yahiko turned away from him casually, hiding his face. “Tsubame, where did you hear about that?”

She blinked at his suddenly quiet voice. “Ano ... Sanosuke-san was asking at the Akabeko yesterday ... Yahiko-kun? Are you alright?”

Did he hear? Is he watching? He hesitated, and dared a glance over his shoulder. The man was on the move again, at the same casual pace. Guess not. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yahiko-kun?”

Her face was worried, now. He gave her a quick smile. “I'm fine, Tsubame.” But if he didn't leave now, he'd lose sight of his mark. “Don't worry about it. I have to go.”

He left her there, threading through the crowd at a faster pace to make up ground. The man had found the edge of the market place and turned down a quiet side-street. Yahiko followed, more carefully now; there weren't enough people between them to disguise his pursuit, should the man turn to glance back. Yet over the next few streets, the man didn't turn back once.

Later, he would realise that the man's total lack of care should have warned him something was amiss. Now, Yahiko trusted in his luck, jogging after him as he turned a corner. They were approaching the river. If he didn't miss his guess, the man would be crossing the same bridge where he'd first tried to pick Kenshin's pocket. The grin that the memory provoked, faded as he reached the bend and realised the man had vanished. Before him stretched the grassy banks of the river. The water had risen dramatically, given the night's heavy rainfall, churning and muddy and fast.

He scanned the banks in disbelief. No way ... The bridge was up ahead, and he sprinted for it, looking around wildly. He can't just disappear! No sign of him. He couldn't be fast enough to have crossed the bridge and disappear from his sight in just that short a time. Unless ...

He slid down the grassy slope to the base of the bridge, ducking under the walkway. It turned out to be his second mistake. A strong hand wrapped around his throat and yanked him bodily off the ground. The man's other hand slammed across his mouth as he was pushed roughly against the stone wall.

“I told you, boy,” came a flat voice. “You shouldn't pick a fight with an opponent you can't beat.” Fingers dug into his throat, cutting off precious air. “Nothing personal.”

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::leaves small pile of pocky for BakaBokken:: Hee! Thank you ^_^

Next chapter: Yahiko dies and Kaoru becomes a prostitute. Uh... that's probably not what happens, actually. Probably more along the lines of Yahiko vs. Yoshida vs. Kaoru. Maybe. We'll see, ne?

Ja!