Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Life Insured ❯ Amber Eyes ( Chapter 9 )

A/N: Wow. It's been a really long time, hasn't it? I wonder if anyone still remembers that this story exists. To be truthful, I wasn't really planning on ever finishing this story. My life has gone through a lot of major changes lately, including graduating high school, moving, beginning college, and recovering from a major surgery. But, I regained inspiration on this, it being one of my favorites, and I decided to finish it up. I had a lot of fun and plenty of challenges trying to write this chapter, so I hope it turned out good!

 

“Life Insured”

 

Chapter 9: Amber Eyes

 

“Don't move.”

 

Kenshin, in a complicated maneuver, both gulped in and heaved out air, as he struggled underneath Soujiro's weight. His vision cleared after his breath had returned, and he suddenly realized exactly who the boy assassin had been speaking too. In the far corner of the room, he saw Kaoru standing frozen at the window, facing the cocked barrel of Soujiro's handgun.

 

He laughed aloud at her surprise. “I don't know why everyone is always shocked that I carry a gun with me! I mean, I may be a mindless hit man, but I'm not stupid! There's no I way I'll allow you to leave…alive, that is..” he chuckled to himself, in a sickening display of failed humor.

 

Kenshin saw the way Kaoru trembled in the face of the gun, and he had to swallow a burning sense of vengeance. Not since Tomoe's death had he felt this sensation- like a hot ball of fire that clenched his stomach and arrested his mind. It was a dangerous feeling, he knew; it was what made the masses move in vicious swoops; it was what made murderers kill others. Wasn't it what had made Shishio the man he had become? The man who had found it so easy to toy with Megumi, and wouldn't blink an eye at killing Kenshin and Kaoru

 

“Don't.” Kenshin was surprised at the heaviness of his own voice, even if the word only came out as a muffled sound from between dry lips.

 

Soujiro flinched slightly, peering down in curiosity at the man sprawled underneath his sandal. The gun was still waving in Kaoru's direction, though he seemed to have temporarily forgotten the girl. “Are you ready to fight against me, Mr. Himura?” If the look hadn't been so devoid of emotion, it might have been a fearsome sneer.

 

Although Kenshin felt even more fearful than before, he met Soujiro's questioning gaze with the most intimidating glare he could muster. “….Don't point that thing at Miss Kaoru.”

 

The black-haired hit man raised an eyebrow, pouting comically, before addressing Kaoru again. “He wants me to lower my gun. I'd like to do that, but if you stay near the window, I may just have to shoot.”

 

Kaoru's blood ran cold; one of many times since they had met Soujiro. She felt her brain whir in circles with the force of adrenaline, and all she could do was reluctantly shuffle back, away from the window. She took a shuddering gulp, and raised her palms in a defensive motion. Kenshin felt something inside of him lurch as he watched the terror flitting through her features. The fight was supposed to have been between him and Soujiro. There was no way he could forgive himself if she became involved. If she was hurt because of him, than what use would he have been? Kenshin would have again failed a woman that he cared for: Tomoe, Megumi, and now sweet and innocent Miss Kaoru.

 

His senses now heightened with a protective impulse, he was once again starkly aware of the foreign object in still clutched tightly in a white-knuckled, sweaty grip. The sword. Kenshin grimaced as the surprisingly hefty weight of the young assassin pushed its way into Kenshin's sternum. He had to do something. He had to move. He felt pricks of sweat rise on his forehead, seeming to stir with anticipation.

 

“Into the corner or I will shoot you!” The gun waved sharply, in odd contrast with the sweet tone of the command. Kaoru fluttered the quickest of glances to Kenshin's face, contorted in a kind of suspended agony. In that moment of her hesitation to comply, Kenshin saw Soujiro's finger flicker above the trigger of the gun as if the situation had been slowed down to lengthy beats. And, without even thinking, Kenshin felt his own body explode into action.

 

A deafening crack split the air as the gun went off, another clang sounding as the blade of Kenshin's sword hit the thick metal, successfully flinging the weapon out of the hand of Soujiro. The smoking gun clattered on the concrete floor, skidding to a stop on the other end of the room. Kenshin felt his whole body trembling in anger and more than just a hint of violence. In a split second his limbs had reacted to the threat on Kaoru's safety, before his brain even had time to process what was going on. It felt like some subconscious part of his brain had grabbed a hold of him and forced him to act. It was a feeling not unfamiliar to him, of acting on instinct alone…but one that he hadn't felt for what seemed like lifetimes.

 

Near the wall, Kaoru stood still, rigid with fear, and contorted in surprise. In the wall was a small hole where the bullet had buried itself. An inch or two closer and the projectile would have hit its mark with deadly accuracy.

 

Kenshin, now standing from a crouch, raised his sword to point into Soujiro's chest, watching intently as the assassin looked back with a yet impenetrable stare. His small fingers were still hanging in the air, clenching at a gun that was no longer there, as if his brain had not registered what had happened, and had not notified his limbs to retract.

 

“Miss Kaoru…you aren't hurt, are you?”

 

Kaoru opened her mouth, nothing but silence falling out. Kenshin's eyes, though they were not turned in her direction, were sharp, narrow and focused, with a fierce gleam. She was sure the sentiment behind that glare was not aimed at her, but she couldn't help but be unnerved by it. She snapped as if awakening from a daydream, finally finding her voice. “Yeah…Yes, I'm fine.” She exhaled the words, as if confirming to herself that they were true as each one passed her lips.

 

“Please stay in the corner, Miss Kaoru.” It was an order, curt and clipped, but still was human and tender. Something in her felt oddly relieved to hear that tender undercurrent, for it softened his countenance when compared with the frightening look on his face. She nodded shakily in compliance even though he was not watching, and she fingered her way along the wall until she slid against the cool space of the corner.

 

“I'm impressed, Mr. Himura.” Soujiro finally spoke, his voice just as ridiculously light as before, though Kaoru thought she could see a new and strange glint in his eyes. Just like the change now present in Kenshin's demeanor, Kaoru couldn't quite explain what it meant…but something about it frightened her.

 

Soujiro had finally lowered his hand, his smile widening to epic proportions. “It looks as if you're finally ready to face me as an opponent? I'm glad.” He seemed completely unperturbed by the sword that was placed just inches away from his heart, and his own sword was gripped casually in his right hand, as if it were an accessory or even and extension of his arm.

 

But this time, Kenshin too looked unfazed by Soujiro's smooth calm. Instead, he looked as if he were now on the offensive. “You put Miss Megumi in the way of danger. Now you have turned a gun on Miss Kaoru. I will never forgive you for that, that I will not.” The sword wavered slightly, not in weakness, but in anger.

 

Soujiro smiled thinly, humorlessly, eyeing the blade without any kind of fear. “What a silly thing to say- as if I would ask for your forgiveness! Anyway, you could save both of them at any time, if you'd only admit your desire to kill me…to hurt another human being.”

 

“…Miss Megumi? She's not…” Kenshin's body seemed to experience a wave of pure relief.

 

Soujiro smirked lightly. “..Dead? No, but close enough. She's here, as a matter of fact- downstairs. A little piece of bartering material for the F.B.I., you see. It'll be a shame for them to have two civilians dead, I'm sure, but they would never stand to see one of their own killed by a dirty hit man. This way both Shishio and they will get what they want.” He smiled another compliant smile, as if he were done explaining any further. “But that trade won't happen until you're dead.”

 

Suddenly, with the same lightning quickness of his previous attacks, the assassin's sword had matched Kenshin's at chest level. As they swords slid and scraped vertically along one another, both men seemed to be channeling all their force through the contact of the blades. “But I must say that I'm surprised by you, Mr. Himura,” Soujiro added slyly. “I thought you'd be weak like the rest of the men I've killed.”

 

Kenshin panted heavily into the force of his push, locks of his unkempt red hair falling like flames around his eyes. “Why should I be weak?” He grunted, clenching his jaw muscles with the effort. “A lack of violence is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of humanity.”

 

The younger one let out a long, tittering laugh that sounded thinned and far away, as if it were made empty through practice. “That's a lie. It's a part of what we are. Those who say otherwise have never experienced it firsthand.”

 

Kenshin's brows furrowed darkly over steely eyes now like slits. These were exactly the lines that Hiko Seijuro had attempted to feed him before. He narrowly clattered aside a lunge by Soujiro with his own sword, feeling the blade swoop by his shoulder. But within a second, the boy's shining blade had taken him off guard on his other side, leaving a large gash above his waist. Kaoru cried out wordlessly at the sight, watching as Kenshin doubled over slightly, clutching at the blood rising on his white shirt with a pained grimace painted on his features.

 

“I have experienced violence firsthand…that I have.” He rasped out the last bit, almost as if it had been an afterthought, Kaoru noticed. “I've seen enough violence to fill one lifetime.” His voice was so quiet now that Kaoru had difficulty making out the words. She watched in anticipation and anxiety as Kenshin batted away another strike, and flung out his blade many times in failed attempts at hits. Had Kenshin been referring to his wife, Tomoe? His encounters with her psychotic brother? But there must have been more. Kenshin had dealt with death by his trade as a detective, even if he had been just a rookie. Who knows what he had seen? Had there been a time when he had fought hand and fist with another? Had he been gravely wounded before? Had he wounded others…?

 

Even if Kenshin was less experienced than his opponent, it was surprising to see how focused Soujiro seemed to be. Minutes before, he had flipped Kenshin on his back with little more than a touch of his sword, but mow he was having to work to block Kenshin's attacks which, while somewhat clumsy, often came eerily close to their mark.

 

“You've experienced violence before? As an insurance agent…” The high-pitched giggle, both infuriating and disarming, rang out again. “Then you've wanted to kill before.” The accusation was cold and taunting. Kenshin appeared momentarily startled by it, and his countenance became more rigid. Soujiro noticed the change and grinned knowingly. “Or…you have killed before?”

 

Kaoru drew in a sharp breath. Kenshin seemed to freeze in contemplation, as Soujiro's words hung tensely in the air. What did his hesitation mean?

 

And with a sidestep that was nearly inhuman in its grace and speed, Soujiro had pierced deep into Kenshin's thigh with a jab of his blade. Kenshin cried out in pain, and as the blade pulled out from the muscle, he fell to his knees. To Kaoru, his body looked crumpled and worn, as he gripped at the wound that gushed a new river of blood through his fingers. The boy's grin was almost wicked in context, his eyes fixed as if willing Kenshin to lose control.

 

“Have you killed somebody you cared about, Mr. Himura? Another silly girl?”

 

Kenshin's face was hidden by the mass of gleaming red hair, as his whole body seemed to tremble in a mix of pain, exhaustion and mental conflict. And then, without warning, a small voice emerged from him.

 

“Shut up.”

 

Kaoru felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she heard it, icy and firm. His body wavering slightly as he did, Kenshin pulled himself up into a standing position, squaring his shoulders defiantly as he faced Soujiro. Seeing him like this, Kaoru buried a large gasp in her hands. It was as if he were a different man altogether. In the dull twilight, she could see the gleam of sweat on his forehead, on the muscles of his exposed chest and arms, and on his cheeks where, in the light it seemed as if the cross scar were bleeding anew. Streaks of blood shone on across his tattered shirt and trouser leg. But his eyes were what made his appearance so shocking. They shone with an otherworldly quality, with power from an unfathomably deep place. In the faint light they almost looked…golden.

 

A cold shiver ran up her spine. She came to the sudden realization that this was the first time she had ever seen Kenshin angry. This was more than even just anger. It was rage so deep and rumbling that it made him nearly unrecognizable.

 

“Shut up.” He said it louder this time, his voice terse and stony. He said the words with a vicious sneer. “Or you'll be the one that ends up dead.”

 

“Kenshin!” Kaoru cried out his name, chokingly. She couldn't quite understand what was happening, but she knew that something inside the kind, red-haired man that she had grown so fond of, had snapped.

 

He didn't even respond to the sound of her voice. Now all he could see was Soujiro facing him, and his face looked as if he truly was the assassin that Shishio had desired out of him. Was this the strength, the power that he had been keeping locked up inside of him this whole time? The boiling anger and emotion that was buried at all times beneath the surface? This was a side of Kenshin that she had never realized existed.

 

With a primal yell ripping from his lungs, the small redhead began shoving attacks in Soujiro's direction, driving him back against the far wall with amazing precision. The assassin looked mildly dumbfounded at the change in his opponent, who was hammering at him with new and surprising power. Kenshin was moving swiftly and lightly, as if the weight of the sword and his deep wounds no longer had any effect on him; as if he had not spent a day away from the police force.

 

Soujiro tried to pierce Kenshin's torso once again, but was surprised when the insurance agent dodged the blade. With a swing so forceful and sudden that Kaoru barely saw it happen, Kenshin had slammed his blade into the assassin's face. With the blunt force of the hit, Soujiro was, for the first time, sent into a sprawl on the floor.

 

Kenshin stood above him, breathing heavily, with a poise that suggested he was waiting for the boy to rise again so he could administer another blow. His eyes were positive glowing with hatred now. Soujiro gradually pulled himself up from the floor, and Kaoru was surprised. Half of his face was covered in blood and a large gash sunk into his cheek, but he was still half smiling through the mess.

 

The boy reached up a tentative hand to feel at the blood. He laughed uncertainly. “You're the first person who has ever cut my face.” His voice sounded somewhat hollow.

 

“I'm glad.” Kaoru was horrified to hear the words, felt helpless to intervene in the bloody match.

 

The light had become so dim, that that most of what she could see was the silhouette of their bodies, as they moved back against one another, swords clanging like short yells in the cold room. Soujiro, his countenance shaken by Kenshin's blow, managed another strike at Kenshin, only lightly grazing his arm. Kenshin was stumbling in a kind of fervor with his wounds taking a toll on him, but he kept hitting and blocking with the same efficiency as before.

 

With a grunt, Soujiro swung in an uncharacteristically desperate stroke at this man who was suddenly matching his practiced killing methods. With a growl, Kenshin did something unbelievable. He grasped the boy's sword within his hand, pulling the boy in even as rivulets of crimson ran down his forearm. With a sharp movement of his neck, he slammed his own forehead into Soujiro, leaving them both unbalanced and disoriented.

 

Kaoru felt a scream of protest rise in the base of her throat. This was wrong. All of it was wrong. This was not the Kenshin that she knew. If the fight went on any longer, one of them would be dead. Kenshin already seemed to be on his last legs, the blood loss getting to him.

 

“…Stop!” she uttered quietly, her voice clenching.

 

Without waiting for Soujiro to regain his balance, Kenshin was aiming again for him…this time, would he not hesitate to give a final blow?

 

“KENSHIN! DON'T!” She screamed it as loud as she could manage. Anything to make him stop. She didn't want to thing about what would happen if the fight kept going on at this pace. What would happen to him if he killed Soujiro?

 

Kenshin's sword paused, poised shakily in the air. He seemed to open his eyes, see his blade, hesitate in the strike. Soujiro saw his momentary hesitation, and in that moment, moved to make his own final blow.

 

Suddenly the silence was broken by a thunderous crash, and a blinding light that seemed to stop time altogether. Many dark figures were coming through the window, a harsh light bathed the entire room, and Kaoru felt as if she had lost all of her senses in the commotion. A muffled shot was fired from a gun next to her, and suddenly both Kenshin and Soujiro were on the ground, the figures dashing to swarm around them.

 

“Get a stretcher over here! He needs medical assistance immediately!” The air was filled with commotion as the figures moved, the din of a helicopter emerging from outside the building. She sat back in shock, as she watched Kenshin being lifted on a stretcher, bussed over to the window, where he was hooked into straps connected to the helicopter. Suddenly, as she caught a glimpse of his body, she reacted.

 

“Kenshin!” She scrambled up from her position on the ground, trying to reach him before they could take him away. She had to see him. She had to be there for him, and make sure he would be okay. Right now, he looked as if he were already dead, his limbs hanging awkwardly off the edges of the stretcher. His entire face was masked in blood- partly his and partly Soujiro's. She choked back a cry as he was lifted from the window, and was gone from sight. Suddenly she felt faint, tears causing her sight to waver. It was all happening too fast. Soujiro was being tended to by the agents, Kenshin was out of her reach.

 

A strong hand clutched at her arm, supporting her as she felt the faintness rise. “Miss Kamiya, are you hurt at all? We're going to take you to hospital to make sure you're okay.” It was a man's voice, warm and strong.

 

She looked up at him as he removed his protective helmet from his head. Dark spiky brown hair, a handsomely chiseled face and a protective glint in his eyes that made her feel a sense of relief. “My name is Sanosuke Sagara. I'm sorry we couldn't get here any sooner. You should have never had to been in this situation in the first place.”

 

“Kenshin. Is he going to be okay?”

 

Sanosuke shook his head emptily. “We're going to do our best. The important thing is that we get you out of here, to somewhere safe where we can take a look at you.” He began to lead her by the arm towards the stairs so they could reach the street, as she felt the questions and the words spin through her brain.

 

“..Megumi…” She murmured the name quietly.

 

Suddenly Sano stopped walking, his whole demeanor seeming to break apart within a few seconds. His face drained of color, and his eyes seemed to cry out for something. His grip tightened on Kaoru's arm, as he turned her to face him. “What do you know about Megumi? Where is she? Is she still alive?!” His voice cracked in desperation.

 

“He said she was….in a car downstairs.”

 

No sooner had she spoken the words, had Sano reacted. His gun was pulled from his belt, and orders were spilling out of his mouth at the agents still at the window. He was going to save Megumi Takani.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

A/N: AH! Sorry for the abrupt ending. All will be explained with the next update, which will be out very, very soon. Well that was the most intense chapter I've ever had to write, so I hope you guys felt the suspense. It look me a long time to work out the events and the dialogue in this chapter, as it was difficult to develop the wacky changes that Kenshin was going to experience. Please let me know what you think, and stick around for the final chapter, which will be an epilogue.

 

Will Megumi be saved? Is Kenshin still alive? And if he is, what Kaoru say to him?