Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Life Insured ❯ Road Trip ( Chapter 6 )

A/N: And here's where you get to find out what happens to Kaoru and Kenshin. I see that burning light of excitement in your eyes, so get reading! Thanks to everyone who left me a review- all the comments are so sweet!

 

 

“Life Insured”

 

Chapter 6: Road Trip

 

When Kenshin and Kaoru reached the parking structure, still no words had been exchanged between them. Kenshin tried to keep a safe and respectable distance away from Kaoru, while Kaoru trailed behind uncertainly. She couldn't understand why he was so adamant about shouldering this burden alone, and why he wouldn't allow her to help him.

 

The parking garage was almost sufficiently cleared out for the day. A scant few cars littered the lot, but besides those, it was empty. Their steps echoed frighteningly loud between the concrete pillars of the wide space.

 

Kaoru was dreading the moment when they would reach her car. The faster that happened, the sooner Kenshin would be out of her sight for good. He would leave town, and maybe never come back. She might never know if he had lived or died. He would be alone in his final moments and, worst of all… he would never know what she felt for him. She'd been searching for an opportunity to ask him all the questions that had been plaguing her… to tell him all the things she loved about him. She had always expected there would be more time to do these things.

 

One more pillar to pass, and then they would be there. Kaoru clutched her purse with cold fingers, wishing Kenshin would at least get rid of that silly, reassuringly bright look on his face. It was so obviously a mask, that Kaoru wanted to shake it out of him. They both knew that he was just as worried as she was.

 

But, when they finally reached Kaoru's car, all motion and thought was held in suspension as they saw what was in front of them.

 

Kaoru's mouth opened in a silent gasp, as she looked over the damage to her car. The driver side window had a hairline crack running through it, the door handle wrenched at an odd angle, and the door halfway open, as if someone with experience and speed had broken into her car. Someone that hadn't particularly cared about being noticed. But… why? What reason could anybody possibly have for breaking in her old beat-up car, as opposed to the expensive imports and shiny convertibles that were parked right beside it?

 

She turned to glance at Kenshin who, upon seeing the wreck, had also stopped dead in his tracks. They could both see that the glove compartment had been flung open, bits of paper and forms strewn over the seats. His eyes narrowed slightly, the meaning of it knocking his head. Without even a word, Kenshin had grabbed her wrist tightly in his fingers, and had begun running towards his own car. She tried to hang on for dear life, wondering when Kenshin had ever learned to run so fast.

 

“What's going on, Kenshin?!”

 

“You're going to have to come with me.”

 

Kaoru knew she should have been glad that he had finally seen things her way… but by seeing the look in his eyes, she didn't feel any kind of relief.

 

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That intense gaze in Kenshin's eyes had continued, unwavering, for the next hour or so. Direction had changed quicker than Kenshin could have planned for, and now he was forced to bring Kaoru along with him. He had to admit: it was rather calming having her ride next to him in his cramped car. But every time he felt the calm washing over him, he was again reminded of all the dangers that might lie ahead of them.

 

It was obvious now that the mobsters knew Kaoru was involved. It wasn't obvious what their true purpose was, but he was sure that whoever the culprit had been, it wasn't some teenage hoodlum. The door had been opened almost cleanly, despite the small crack in the window. No valuables had been stolen. The only thing they had been searching for was information.

 

If Kenshin had taken Kaoru home, it was a large possibility that any number of shady figures could have been waiting to pounce on her once she arrived. Therefore, he couldn't risk taking that chance.

 

As Kenshin ran these thoughts through his brain, Kaoru watched him in uncertainty. The man who was normally so fluidly kind and serene was gripping the top of the steering wheel with white knuckles. His bright eyes were focused only half on the road in front of him. The rest of him was obviously weighing the situation.

 

She leaned back into the passenger seat, a quiet sigh escaping her lips. Kenshin looked so intense and so worried, that she wished she could do something to make it all go away. She became lost in her own thoughts, the thrumming of the worn-out car engine making almost lulling noises in the silence between them.

 

He had changed so much in less than a month. He was still the same sweet man as ever, but the constant pressure and paranoia had taken a toll on him. The kind face, once only marred by the deep cross-shaped scar, was now also marred by the strange play of emotions on his face. He had become sterner, and if she had not imagined it, he was more self-assured. His movements in the parking garage, his straight shot out of town, had not been lies. Where the entire office knew him as their pliable agent who would bend over backwards to accommodate even the lowest of demands, Kaoru was seeing that that wasn't his true personality.

 

Without a false smile on his face he looked almost like a tragic character in some story. Perhaps it was the scar that made it seem that way, she considered.

 

The mottled lines of skin on his left cheek had been the first thing she had noticed about Kenshin, right after his unusual hair and eyes. It was impossible not to flicker your eyes to it upon first glance. It covered almost the entire cheek- lip to ear, eye to jaw. It made one wonder immediately what horrible fight or torture had given him that kind of wound.

 

Kenshin pressed his foot down further on the gas, as the small vehicle practically flew onto the highway with a string of other cars. They were now passing the city limits. But, where would they go, even if they managed to escape the watchful eyes of Shishio and his gang? If they kept on running, they might remain alive for a little longer… but would they ever be able to find peace of mind?

 

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Two hours earlier…

 

 

Soujiro Seta glided into the room, giving Yumi Komagata a pleasant smile. His smile was infectious, and it was usually hard for her not to smile back. But she swore that sometimes she wondered when that grin would disappear. It never had, of course, but even in the most unlikely times, Soujiro Seta's eyes were twinkling and the corners of his mouth were turned upward.

 

She looked down at the sword he was holding at his side. She supposed that on any other man, carrying a Japanese sword while wearing normal clothing would look very silly. But Soujiro had carried a sword for as long as she had known him, and it had become like another limb on his body.

 

“What does Shishio want me to do?” His voice was high and light, reflecting his boyishness.

 

“She's in the other room. He wants to know everything you can squeeze out of her.”

 

“Does he want me to kill her afterwards? Physical torture?”

 

Yumi shuddered just slightly. It was always unnerving to hear him talk about death as it if gave him joy. She knew that wasn't correct. Soujiro didn't necessarily wish for the suffering of man- he only desired to follow Shishio's wishes. He would kill whoever Shishio said deserved it, without so much as blinking an eye.

 

Yumi had wondered about Soujiro's disposition right from the first time she had met him. The smile was frightening. Nobody knew when Soujiro might crack from the pressure of the lives he had taken. Once she had inquired, concerned, about his past to Shishio. He had told her in simple words how he had met the orphaned Soujiro on the city streets ten years before, cold and starving. Shishio had always supposed that Soujiro had experienced something horrible. The smile hadn't fooled him.

 

“What was it that happened to him?” she had asked Shishio solemnly.

 

“He killed his entire family.”

 

Yumi had gasped in shock. “Killed his… But, why?”

 

“He never told me, but I assume he had been abused. There were scars and bruises all over his body. He told me that he wanted to serve me, and that I could train him. He didn't want to be weak anymore.”

 

Shishio's one philosophy that was apparent in everything he did, was that “the strong survive, the weak die.” He chanted it to his men; he used it as the reason for everything he did. They had all adopted the philosophy, including Soujiro. With Shishio growing in power and influence by the day, it had to be true, didn't it? And if it wasn't true yet, she knew that his fashion of thinking would soon prevail.

 

She looked at Soujiro with a calm and humorless expression. “No, actually, he doesn't want her to die quite yet. He would rather you kept her as safe as possible. He said there may be use for her in the future.”

 

But she won't be alive for long, she told herself. Even if Shishio planned on keeping Megumi Takani alive for just a little bit longer, she would not escape with her life. Shishio hated being tricked and used. That was the reason he had gone underground to topple the system. The government had tried to manipulate him all of his life by putting him in dangerous situations and making him accomplish their own cowardly goals for them. The fact that the woman had been able to weasel her way in so easily through his secure structure was infuriating him. She wouldn't be spared.

 

“Yumi…?” Soujiro was studying her face.

 

“What?”

 

“Cheer up. You look so sad!” He grinned at her.

 

She chuckled. “Thanks, Soujiro.” He was the only one in this organization besides Shishio who really seemed to care about her personally. She was glad he cared. “Good luck.”

 

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The trees whipped by the car window, blurring against the darkening horizon. They had been on the road now for almost two hours. As night approached and they moved farther away from the city, Kaoru and Kenshin still felt the constant unrest of running away from the danger, but not quite escaping it.

 

Kaoru felt her stomach growl, and she twitched in embarrassment. She was surprised, when she looked over at her companion, to see that Kenshin was smiling weakly. “I guess we should find something to eat, that we should…” his own stomach turned in hunger, and he chuckled quietly.

 

A short time later, Kenshin pulled the car into the gravel drive of a small grocery store off the road. Both opened their doors, taking the time to stretch their limbs. Kenshin went in alone. Kaoru sat in waiting for him, tapping her fingers frantically on her stocking-ed leg. She had been trying to forget why she was out on a drive with Kenshin. It was easy to pretend for a while that he had invited her out… until she remembered that they hadn't been talking to each other for fear of where their conversation might lead. Uncomfortable silence and small talk seemed to be the preferred solution.

 

Ten long minutes later, Kenshin emerged from the store, a full paper bag in his arms. She sat up eagerly. Kenshin slid into the driver's seat quickly, immediately starting up the engine. She peered at his face, concerned, seeing some amount of tension playing at the muscles of his defined jaw.

 

“What is it, Kenshin? Did something happen in there?” The car roared on to the road, leaving the few cars in the parking lot behind in a cloud of dust.

 

As she began to rifle through the items in the bag- bread, cheese, meat, apples, water- Kenshin spoke up again in a fairly subdued voice. “Nothing bad happened, but I didn't really like how the cashier looked at me.” His eyes shifted along the road. “I guess it's not so abnormal that I be looked at funny…” His small smile was wry and soothing. “I paid all in cash. There were other customers there, but they could have been anybody…” he trailed off, not saying what they both were thinking:

 

What if someone is already on our trail?

 

When Kenshin felt positive that they were as far away from civilization as possible, the engine spluttered to a stop at the side of the road. Flicking off the headlights, and instead reaching for the flashlight in the glove compartment, they exited the small car. The flashlight spread a small circle of pale light over the hard-packed dirt under their feet, through the pitch black of the settled night.

 

They positioned themselves side-by-side, sitting against the side of the red sedan, with the bag of food and weak flashlight between them. They ate silently, wearily, for a while, chewing thoughtfully on their sandwiches.

 

After a long moment of pregnant hesitation, Kenshin spoke in the midst of their dinner. “Miss Kaoru…” Kaoru raised her eyes to look at his shadowed face, silently convinced that she could have watched him speak eloquently the rest of her life. “I'm sorry for everything. For dragging you into everything like this.”

 

Kaoru's eyes flew wide open in surprise, and now she almost felt like smacking the silly man for thinking such thoughts. “What are you talking about?! It's my fault that I'm here,” she berated. “I should be apologizing to you for burdening you like this!”

 

Kenshin turned his violet eyes and a genuinely surprised face to look at her. “Miss Kaoru, you're not a burden to me. I rather enjoy your company, above anyone else.” He said it simply as he smiled kindly at her, and her heart turned.

 

They fell into silence, Kaoru looking down at her food with a pleased glint in her eye. She wouldn't get all starry-eyed over this…she just wouldn't! It was silly enough that she be pining after someone so out of her league as Kenshin… but he had probably not meant anything by the comment. That was just the kind of person he was. He never hesitated to hand out sweet remarks, but they also seemed to rarely have hidden meaning.

 

Kenshin leaned his head back against the surface of the car, and Kaoru followed suit soon enough. Above them spread an expanse of stars too far for their eyes to reach to the end. Kaoru breathed in awe.

 

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” Kenshin's warm voice shone with appreciation.

 

She studied him for a moment, noticing that, even though Kenshin wore his insurance salesman's loafers and tie, he still looked natural in the moonlit setting. The soft light framed his red hair, fell perfectly in his violet eyes, and illuminated his wide scar eerily. Sitting so close to him, and almost feeling the heat radiate from his body, Kaoru felt as if she could pretend again that they were on a romantic outing. She took in the astounding view of the night sky, watching breathlessly as a meteor streamed across the inky abyss. She couldn't pretend, she knew, but also silently considered that if she had to be trapped with anyone out in the middle of nowhere, she would have chosen Kenshin without one moment of hesitation.

 

He was trying so hard to be calm and supportive, even if he was the one in the most danger. And, even if Kenshin had been acting as if he were old and useless, he was far more useful than he realized.

 

“So, how does a man get such a nasty scar?” she smiled teasingly at him, the cool night air and intimacy of the moment somehow pushing her courage in bringing up the topic. Now that they were out in the freedom of the land beneath the sky, it felt as if everything could be put out in the open.

 

Kenshin's eyes took on that faraway look she had seen in them so many times before. Why did that seeming absence of light make her heart ache for him? Kenshin continued to face the sky, and his long lashes delicately fluttered closed over his eyes.

 

“It's a long story…” Kaoru straightened up a little more, her curiosity piqued. Kenshin's eyes opened again, and she noticed his thin, white fingers tighten on the cloth that fell over his knees.

 

“When I was twenty eight, I was in love with a woman…” Kaoru said nothing even when he paused for a long moment, focusing on the change that had come over the red-haired man beside her. His goofy, polite way of speaking was dropped for the time being, as his smooth voice traced over the memories of the past like fingertips over an old photograph.

 

“We were married the spring of that year… ten years ago…” This made Kaoru's heart skip a beat. She supposed that she should have known that Kenshin would have had a wife, but she instead had the ridiculous idea that he was her pure and untainted coworker who had no experience with women… as if he were somehow saved up only for her.

 

“It happened six months after the wedding. I came home from work one day, and I found an intruder in our home. He had come for both Tomoe and I.”

 

Tomoe… that was his wife's name…

 

“He wanted to kill us. I tried to fight with him, but he was too strong. He… had a knife…and…” his voice wavered almost unnoticeably. “He gave me this wound and stabbed me, and left us both to die. The doctors were able to save me… but Tomoe bled to death before the ambulance could arrive.” Kenshin hung his head low after a moment, and Kaoru couldn't help the lump that rose in her throat.

 

“How….terrible…” It came out in a whisper. She desperately wished she could reach over to wrap her arms around him, but by that cold look on his face, she could tell that it wasn't her place to do so.

 

Kenshin blew out a humorless chuckle, but his voice retained a little bit more of his normal self-deprecating charm. “Time has helped… even if the memories have not been erased.” He was staring absently at his hand that rested on his thigh, as he flexed the strong fingers absently.

 

Kaoru sat in shock, her mouth fallen open. “Who- who would do such a thing?” She couldn't understand it: how could anybody be so heartless as to ruin the life of a happily married couple?

 

“It was Tomoe's younger brother. He was psychotic. I guess he had been that way ever since their father died. He had convinced himself that no one should have Tomoe's love but himself. She…never talked about him.”

 

Kaoru's stomach dropped in horror, her mind standing still in shock. What could she say to something like that? It had been a decade ago, hadn't it? But even ten years could not fully get rid of a memory like that, just as Kenshin had said.

 

“Was she… very beautiful?” she asked quietly. Maybe if she could allow Kenshin to talk about what had happened, he might lose that frightening solemnity in his eyes.

 

“The most beautiful.” He smiled as if in remembrance of something about her. He raised his head again, the disguised pain still apparent under the smile.

 

“I promised myself after that day that I would never put a woman I cared about in danger ever again… that I would be strong enough to protect her.” He smiled half wryly, and half in regret. “But, I guess I haven't done a very good job of it, have I?”

 

Kaoru did her best to ignore the leap her pulse had taken when he had mentioned that he cared for her, and instead smiled back encouragingly. “You're doing a great job. I haven't felt this safe in years.” It was the truth. He looked glad, and scanned his eyes over the trees in front of them as he reached up a thumb to absently trace the lines of the deep scar.

 

Then, as if suddenly remembering where they were and why they were there, Kenshin stood up and helped Kaoru up from the dirt. “I guess you should get some rest, that you should, Miss Kaoru.” He was somewhat back to normal. “I'll keep watch.”

 

Kaoru looked at him with an incredulous expression- after all he had been through, Kenshin was still willing to sacrifice his own well-being. “Then I'll drive tomorrow- no buts, mister! You need your rest too.” When he attempted a protest in a strangled cry, she shushed him effectively with an outstretched finger. She feared that one day, Kenshin's kindness would be the death of him… especially if he remained content with acting so dimwitted around women.

 

As the two pushed over who would sleep and who would drive, they suddenly saw the headlights come up over the ride of the road behind them. They paused for a moment, both of their hearts stopping as they watched the headlights approach. Their brief respite from their fears had made them temporarily forget to be watchful, and now they remembered the flashlight on the ground and their car in plain view.

 

Kaoru gulped, her hands still resting on Kenshin's forearms to push him towards the car. She watched with agonizing apprehension as the car's headlights suddenly snapped off, and it disappeared mysteriously into the brush about a mile down the road. Something about it had made Kaoru's stomach churn nervously.

 

Only one thing was apparent to both of them.

 

“We have to get out of here.”

 

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A/N: Information overload, huh? Well, it answers some of your questions, I hope. And I daresay it brings up other ones. Don't be afraid to ask or guess, either. Who knows whether you just might think the same way I do… (great minds think alike, eh?)

 

Review Responses:

 

Pobbin: Hello, my friend! Glad to see your name on my review page once again, since you leave such wonderful compliments! I'm glad my hints drive you crazy… I hope you like the stuff revealed this chapter… more to come next chapter!!

 

Pego5678: Wow, you pretty much hit the nail in the head with the parking lot thing. Yeah… the fact that he's all “weapons are evil” is kinda a problem for the action side, but it shall happen….yes!! Brandon Boyd= awesome! Incubus is so cool. I'm currently on a Smashin Pumpkins/Muse binge right now, and I'm glad to hear you love them too. I'm most sick of the Linkin Park/Evanescence craze. Too many AMVs. Far too many. They're talented and all… but, y'know…. ; )

 

My_name: Hmm.. why the gang would hire a hit man? Let's just say they're not necessarily the Juppon Gatana. I know it would seem to be that way, but I pretty much created the gang with the thought of Shishio, Soujiro, Yumi and Hoji, and not all ten. It's more of the idea of what Shishio stands for, but not with the same army that he had before… if that makes any sense…?

 

Qem: Never seen Kenshin?! Well, then my friend, you know what you shall have to do ;)

 

Drake220: Violence! Haha I don't know about kicking him in the balls, as Sano, while being manipulative in a way, is not necessarily looking for Kenshin to be hurt.

 

Shihali: You didn't see her found out because I didn't show it…yet….

 

BradyBunch4529: Yeah, Kaoru's quite unstoppable… but it's all kinda worked it's way out….sort of… despite the *being chased by evil mobsters* bit XD

 

Killer Cool Sobe: The meeting won't be for a while. And the Juppon Gatana… hmm… probably not all of them will appear… I will have to decide. This may be kept under 10 chapters, depending on how I do in the later chapters, so I'm not sure.

 

Animemistress419: here's a bit of romance!

 

Thanks also to catti-dono, TimeWarper, and Pyramidgirl89 for reviewing!