Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Life Insured ❯ Cat and Mouse ( Chapter 7 )

A/N: Good to see you all again! I apologize for the extended wait, but this and the next chapter have been giving me a little trouble. But, no worries. I made the plot bunnies behave ^_^

 

“Life Insured”

 

Chapter 7: Cat and Mouse

 

This song could have been called incessantly annoying. You know, the kind with a washed-out nasal voice, the most repetitive and insanity-inducing chorus ever written, and a bad techno beat? But, at that moment, Kaoru couldn't have wished for anything better to play on the car radio. If nothing, blasting the sound out of the beat-up speakers was distracting her from other thoughts. That's what they both needed.

 

She had begged Kenshin to let her take the wheel, but the rare times Kenshin put his foot down in matters, he tended to get his way. He was just too darn stubborn when it came to her safety. She had given up protesting that she could take care of herself without his help, because every time she said it, he pursed his lips and straightened his shoulders again.

 

So, she had to be content instead with bouncing her head to the only passable radio station she had been able to find out here in the flatlands, and amusing herself by watching Kenshin drive. Being alone together in such a small space for such a long space of time had certainly given them both the opportunity to get to know one other. And plenty of time for them to notice the things they had been too ignorant to see before.

 

For Kaoru, she had always known that Kenshin was an exotic-looking man, if it could be put that way. Nobody she had ever known had those eyes or that hair… or could have pulled them off and still not look like a clown. No other man had the strong slenderness beneath the awkward bumbling nature that made Kenshin so endearing. But, she had never really taken the time to think about the exceptional beauty within him. The more she watched him move and speak in those carefully measured words, the more she saw it.

 

For the mere twenty-four hours that they had been traveling together, Kaoru had learned so much about him. About why he acted the way he did, who he once had been… and that he was not as untainted as she had suspected. He had experienced more pain than she could probably ever imagine and yet, he still kept the bright smile on his face. She admired him more than any other person for that.

 

“Kenshin…?” Kaoru turned town the pounding dance rhythms for a moment, as a question popped into her mind. He turned a small smile to her. He looked exhausted after driving for so many hours on end with his eyes drooping slightly, though his hands remained steady on the wheel.

 

“What is it, Miss Kaoru?”

 

“Just who was that Megumi woman that came to visit you last week?”

 

He noticed that she didn't have the same fighting tone as before when talking about the tall and flirtatious woman. “She was an F.B.I. agent. She was trying to help us out.”

 

Kaoru opened her mouth in shock. “F.B.I.?!” Now she felt like an idiot! She had supposed that Megumi was just another sleazy client that habitually threw herself at men like Kenshin who couldn't stand up for themselves, but she had been grossly mistaken.

 

Kenshin nodded, a worried look crossing in his face. “She was a plant in Shishio's mob… but, before we left, she was discovered. That's why we had to leave town so fast. Shishio probably knows now that I'm not who he thought I was.”

 

“…A hit man?”

 

“Yes.” She shivered at the thought of the kind of people that would be hired killers. Thinking back to Kenshin's past, she knew that to put him in a situation and force him to hurt others, considering the way that his wife had been murdered, might just destroy him. It was what he had fought against doing his entire life- he had based his entire existence on being a protector.

 

Kaoru began to work up the urge to ask the other pressing question on her mind. After many false starts and rephrasing the question in her head, she spoke up once more. “What did you use to do… you know, when you and Tomoe were first married? I mean, I hope you don't mind me prying any more than I already have…” What could a man like him have been- had he always had a desk job? More importantly, she wondered what exactly he had been like when he was her age. She would have liked to known him back when his life had been more carefree.

 

Kenshin smiled. “I don't mind at all, that I do not. I used to work for the police department.”

 

Kaoru's blue eyes widened in sudden understanding and surprise. “You were an officer?”

 

“More or less. I was being trained as an assistant detective before Tomoe's death. I decided afterwards to retire from police work. It was… too difficult to do the job anymore after what happened…”

 

…Because then he would have to see other murders… he would have blamed himself even more for her death, thinking he could have prevented it from happening. She completed his sentence in her mind, understanding finally the reasons for the way she had seen Kenshin act. No wonder he was so meticulous and so sharp in his actions. That had been part of his life long ago.

 

They were edging onto a large city, the back road taking precedent to a main highway. In the distance she could see the silhouettes of a skyscraper or two. She wondered to herself if they would have to sleep in the car tonight, or if they could take a chance on a hotel. After all, they hadn't seen another sign of the car they had seen on the pass, the night before.

 

When they fell into silence again, she reached forward to blast the music again. Kenshin reached out a quick hand to stop hers, his fingers pushing hers from the dial.

 

“It's alright, Miss Kaoru.” He grinned knowingly. “I don't need it right now.” She blushed, seeing that he had realized her purpose in listening to the hideous music. He chuckled lightly at her surprise. “You didn't think I believed you were enjoying the music, did you?”

 

She giggled despite herself. “I guess you're right…”

 

Just as the warm feeling brought forth from his grin was settling over her, the car suddenly swerved slightly. It was a miniscule change in direction, but Kenshin had not made one mistake in the past eight hours of driving. Kaoru glanced up in worry, tempted to press him again to let her drive. But, she noticed he was looking just as surprised as she did. He craned his neck to see in the rearview mirror reflection, to see if they had ran over anything.

 

His strong fingers gripped the leather steering wheel tighter as he inhaled sharply. Within another second, the car took another slight dive on the straight road. It wavered towards the left, as if one of the tires were damaged. Kenshin looked perplexed. Had they gotten a flat?

 

As the city buildings began growing larger in their view, they began to feel one of the tires failing on them. When Kaoru glanced in the side mirror by her window, another sinking feeling of unexplainable dread began to pull at her stomach. There was a car behind them on the mostly-deserted road. While it had been going at a normal pace for quite a while, she noticed the alarming rate at which the vehicle was speeding up. It would catch up to them very shortly.

 

She gulped. It was the same kind of car from the night before. Now that she could see it in the fading light of the sunset, she noticed the impeccable shininess of its black paint, and the tint of its windshield. It's bright headlights cut through the settling dusk and fog, like some creepy premonition. It was obvious that Kenshin noticed the car the same time she did, because he wordlessly pressed harder on the gas pedal, pushing them faster towards the oncoming city, and testing to see what the other driver would do.

 

Without missing a beat, the other car barreled down even faster in their direction, the sleek car moving gracefully on the gray asphalt.

 

“They're catching up fast, Kenshin!” Kaoru's sweet voice took on an abnormal tinge of fright, as the car drove up close enough that she could see the shape of a darkly clothed driver in the front seat.

 

Kenshin's jaw fluctuated with the tension, as he narrowed his eyes in concentration. Despite the continuing flap of the damaged left front tire, he drove the car relentlessly. If only they could get into the city- they just might have a chance of losing the dark vehicle that was trailing them. Unfortunately, the car behind them was moving closer and closer, at a rate that promised that even Kenshin wouldn't be able to pretend to ignore the looming danger any longer.

 

He considered that, after all the apprehension and worry they had experienced lately, what they had feared most had finally arrived—the fight was dropping straight into their hands, and it was a possibility not even he could turn his back from. They had ran and ran trying to escape Makoto Shishio, but had this been inevitable all along? How could Kaoru ever forgive him? How could he forgive himself, he thought, as he watched Kaoru's calm shatter? He would have sacrificed their newly found friendship and closeness, if it meant that she could have been warm and safe in her bed, as opposed to watching a shadowed black car approach like the Grim Reaper flying through the fog.

 

They were shooting along the road as fast as the weak engine and faulty tire could handle, as they came on a stream of cars heading into the city. The city, less menacing than a metropolis would normally appear, stood as a shining beacon of hope to them both. His hands and feet were beginning to ignore his old standby rule, that laws were written to be followed and not broken grossly, as his red car began weaving dangerously around the other vehicles, darting into the mass of inner city lights and traffic.

 

“They're gaining!” Kaoru whispered helplessly, as they entered the city at an alarming pace. Kenshin felt the heady energy of the car wheels spinning on the ground, the roar of the engine seeming to reverberate in his ears. A strangely firm decisiveness wracked Kenshin's face as he leaned into the direction of the car, and suddenly swerved them into an alley.

 

“Please hang on tight, Miss Kaoru!” her eyes flickered to him in incredulity, wondering how he was managing to stay so polite even in a situation like this. She knew at once that Kenshin, even now with the bright intensity in his eyes, was still concerned about her safety, and was blaming himself for everything that had happened up until this point. He had most likely also forgotten that someone else had set him up, if his normal habit of self-deprecation was any indication.

 

A cry suddenly found its way from between Kaoru's lips as she was unceremoniously flung against the passenger side window as the result of inertia. The car rolled out onto another back street. The front tire now was almost completely done for, making them rock and skid as they sped freely down the gloomy roads.

 

Kaoru sat up shakily again, moving her mouth to wonder aloud if they had lost their follower, but it was too soon for her to think it. The tall headlights were shining dangerously from around the corner they had just turned. The pain of realization was soon dawning- did this mean that they had no chance of escape? Their tire was now completely beyond repair, and they were having trouble staying on an even course. As Kenshin sped forward in a series of frantic weaving and confusing turns in order to lose the black car, their last sharp turn caused the car to finally give in to the lack of balance. They went spinning violently into a dark alley, and Kaoru felt a stream of adrenaline pulsing in the dizzy turn.

 

After absorbing the initial muffled impact of the car against a brick wall, Kenshin dazedly opened his violet eyes. He reached up an unsteady hand to flick the headlights off, turn off the engine, and see Kaoru in the bucket seat beside him. Her stark white face was reflecting the same emotions that were tugging at him. His fingers shaking almost unnoticeably, he could do little but reach up with both hands to grasp her cheeks.

 

“They're going to find us, Miss Kaoru,” he whispered, with not a small degree of franticness. “We can't stay here.” She nodded in understanding, and before he could tell her to run from him again, she was reaching into the backseat with a knowing air.

 

“What are you doing?” he gave the young woman a wildly confused look. And then he saw what she held in her hands. It was the long cardboard box. His body shivered involuntarily as she dropped it into his strong hands. His world only belonging for a moment to that confident and caring look in her deep blue eyes, he watched as her lips spoke to him.

 

“I believe in you, Kenshin. And, I'm not going to leave your side again, no matter what you say…. No matter what you're thinking right now… You have something special in you. It's the reason we can't give up. You've been… running away from that all these years.”

 

His soft eyes widened as he inhaled sharply. Had he been running away? But what exactly did Kaoru mean? What have I been afraid of all this time?

 

“Let's go, Kenshin.” Kaoru had scrambled out of the passenger side of the vehicle, which was wedged in an ugly fashion between the brick wall and a chain link fence. She was still shaky from the long hours of sitting still. Finding little time to marvel at the young woman, Kenshin clutched the box tightly in his hands and stepped out onto the gravel that crunched satisfyingly underneath the soles of his brown shoes. The cold wind was almost foreboding in the way that it cut through even his heavy trench coat, and rifled his orange-ish hair. What was it about that wind, though, that made him feel like a different man? He felt a sense of lucidity wrap around him- something he couldn't remember feeling since Tomoe's death. But perhaps it was not the weather, but only the way that Kaoru was holding her hand out to grasp his, that was making him feel this way.

 

Slowly wrapping his hard fingers around her cold ones, his eyes began to dart to take in their surroundings. Had the car passed them up? Were they safe for now? They could see no headlights anymore on the deserted back road. All that surrounded them were the tall, dilapidated buildings of the gloomy section of the otherwise bustling city. They heard a siren sound somewhere in the distance, the rumble of traffic and the normal buzz of a downtown, but the sounds were all faded out and distant in the face of the problem at hand.

 

Noticing quickly a set of buildings under construction across the street, his hand gripped tighter over hers. The building was adorned with waving plastic sheet, a scaffold, and new boards, but there were no vehicles or people anywhere near it. Taking a deep breath, he tugged Kaoru along with him as he took off on a sprint down the street. There was sill no sign of their trackers anywhere, as they leapt onto the far sidewalk.

 

After an awkward climb over the scattered debris at the base of the construction, they were away from the biting wind of the outside, and now face with a shadowed room filled with eerie, transparent sheet and large buckets of white plaster and paint. It looked like a deserted wasteland, but somehow it seemed like a safe haven.

 

“It looks like the workers have left for the day…” he considered aloud with an edge of gladness, as they weaved carefully around the cloth and building materials on the ground. Kaoru obeyed the red-haired man silently, as he led them up to the second floor of the building. It was in the same disrepair as the first floor, but it hadn't bothered either one of them.

 

They both collapsed in the shadow of one of the back walls, even the cool slate seeming inviting. That they were in a dark hovel like this, meant that perhaps they could escape the terror of their trackers for just a little while. Maybe Shishio would even grow tired of this game of cat and mouse, if they were able to elude him for long enough. Not that that idea was very plausible… but it was nice to consider, at least.

 

Kaoru shivered slightly with cold, the second floor still receiving a draft from its open walls. With no hesitation, Kenshin had stripped himself of his long coat, and had settled it over the length of her body with tender care.

 

She watched him for a long moment, his thin white work shirt outlining the curve of his body eloquently, and his forearms rested on his knees in a stressed pose that couldn't have resembled relaxation. Oh, Kenshin… you don't deserved any of this. He'd been through so much already that he shouldn't have had to be in this situation. She had just realized that all these people had been trying their hardest, if unknowingly, to get him to go back on his vow and his ideals. But he hadn't yet wavered from his path. Although it had been difficult for her to realize, maybe Kenshin didn't need to be great or famous or skilled. If he was content, why should the world try to change that?

 

A sudden wave of trembling pity and pride for him curled around her senses, and she leaned compulsively towards him. He shifted in surprise, as he felt Kaoru rest her head on his warm, muscle-hardened shoulder. He settled back against the wall again, as he unsurely laid his cheek across the top of her head. He was shocked at the peace he felt sitting so close to Kaoru. She had put all of her trust in him, was the one that had driven him this fair. She was the first person he had met since Tomoe that had made his heart warm like this. Kaoru, he had discovered, was as strong and beautiful in mind and spirit as she was in body. A very unique and strange girl… but she drew him to her. He knew he couldn't possibly have done anything to deserve this care and loyalty she had shown him.

 

Time seemed to stand still as they relaxed into the cold hardness of the wall. The wind and the noise and the cars were passing them by, outside of their dilapidated paradise, but where they were was calm and inviting.

 

Her chest rose and fell in a quiet sigh.

 

Kenshin sat straight up without warning, his whole body rigid.

 

“What is it, Kenshin?” Her thought process had become hazy. The idea that Kenshin had actually accepted her touch had made her blush crazily, and smile to herself. Was Kenshin finally realizing that all he had done warranted attention? That she appreciated him and cared? These were thoughts that had been coursing through her mind, until he had moved so suddenly.

 

Suddenly, from down below there came a crash, as if someone had accidentally knocked over one of the paint buckets. Kaoru's eyes widened in renewed fear and surprise. Someone else was in the building. Kenshin rocked forwards in a crouch, one of his hands splayed out on the ground to balance his body. He could hear footsteps, and the faint murmur of voices. As the echoing steps became louder, they drew near the foot of the stairway that led to the second floor.

 

Kaoru's heart clenched in icy terror. Had they been found?

 

A painfully long moment ended with a single footstep heard on the first stone step.

 

Kenshin whipped his head around to check the walls and openings. They had already backed themselves into the corner furthest from the stairwell, and there was no third floor. He gulped. They were completely trapped for now.

 

“Mr. Himura!” The disembodied voice rang frighteningly sweet from the stairs. It was the same boy he had spoke with on the phone. The boy's voice was light and calming as it floated up to their ears in a singsong tone.

 

“I know you're up there, Mr. Himura... I'd like to have a word with you!”

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A/N: Please leave any comments you may have! Thanks for reading!