Herez part two. ^_^ Enjoy..(I hope)

 When the night fell

      "It's sure hot for a night isn't it?" Sanosuke was busy trying to use a
dinky newspaper as a fan, to no avail. He threw it aside reluctantly and
leaned up against a wooden post. Megumi picked up the newspaper and began
reading.
      "You should try using stuff for their actual purpose. Oh, I forgot that
you're too dumb to read!"
      "Nani!! (What!!)"
      "Oy yoy yoy...here we go again..."
      A newspaper was in his mouth and a fist was in his cheek before he could
finish. Yahiko spat out the newspaper and immediately sparked a fight with
Sanosuke. On the yard infront of them Kaoru was looking at the stars.
Kenshin was sitting on the grass beside her. His eyes emitting a dangerous
amber glow,
his hand was on the hilt of the sword. He could've sworn the feeling had
grew. The evil presence was nearly suffocating him, he was surprised that
Sanosuke hadn't sensed anything. He lost the dangerous look as soon as Kaoru
sat down beside him. He forced a smile as she stared at him.
      "Ne, Kenshin...what's a matter. You seem so quiet."
      "Just tired, nothing to worry about."
      Kaoru studied him one more time before turning back to the starry night
sky. Kenshin cleared his throat.
      "Beautiful isn't it?"
      Kaoru smiled. "Yes it is. Even the air is delicious. I can't imagine
anything more beautiful."
      Kenshin paused. He wished he could tell her how much he thought of her.
How beautiful she was. He pushed the thoughts to the far resources of his
mind and said nothing. If he lured her into a courtship, she would be
courting death. He lowered his head and faced the ground. He wasn't going to
let a loved one die
at his hands again.
      Kaoru looked up and gasped. The stars were...well..moving. Twirling
around in the nightsky as the stars distorted light moved away from a
growing dark spot. Kenshin noticed this and called out in alarm.
      "Everybody in the dojo..NOW!!"
      His sword was unsheathed in a second as everyone scuffled to their feet.
Kaoru held on to Kenshin's free hand. He tried to push her away but she held
him tight.
      "Kaoru-dono, please. You have to get in the Dojo!!" He was surprised to
feel her body trembling beside him as she pressed closer. The others were
calling out to them but Kaoru kept her ground.
      It was a sign, she could feel it. She was not going to let the Kurokagei
take him from her. She summoned up all her courage and began to talk to the
distorted sky.
      "Go away!! You're not going to take him away from me, from us!!"
      Kenshin glanced at her surprised.
      Kaoru wrapped her arms around his, hugging it tightly against her body.
If she had a piece of him, they could not take him at all.  Suddenly she
felt something pull at her.
      Too late.
      She realised that they were after her.
      Kaoru looked up in horror as the blackness towered over her. Kenshin
tried to hold on to her but they were pryed apart by some strange force.

      Night fell upon her.

      She struggled as the black entity got a hold of her. She realised it was
a man's form that now materialised against hers. Was this the power of the
Kurokagei? His strong gloved hands took her hand and
pinned it to her back. Others materialised around them, each seemed to
have fell from the night sky. She saw Kenshin's fiery amber eyes and shuddered.
      Oh God, please no...not now.
      She couldn't have Kenshin show his dark nature.

      "Kenshin, Kenshin!!" she called out. Kaoru had recalled the time when
Jin-eh had force Kenshin to become Battousai. She had broken the trance by
calling his name. But when he fought Saito, she wasn't able to do anything.
But still....
      "Kenshi..."
      The figure behind him shifted his weight as he bought a dagger to Kaoru's
throat. She stopped in mid call as she felt the cold steel pressed against
her neck. Then all at once the figures began to speak like a
enchanted quire. Their voices rose in raspy whispers.
      "To save this girl, you must become us."
      Kaoru realised they were addressing Kenshin. She wouldn't let them take him.
        Never.
      "No Kenshin!! You can't listen to them!! Don't you.."
      The steel pricked her throat. Kaoru felt a droplet of blood trickle down
her throat. She saw Sanosuke and Yahiko running up to them but they were
blown away by a strong blast of air from the figure beside her. Kenshin's
eyes narrowed more as he dropped his sword to his side.
      The shadowy forms resumed their ghostly chant.
      "To save this girl you must become us. For her life you must trade yours."
      To hell with the dagger. She needed Kenshin to stay away.
      "Run Kenshin!! Don't listen to them!!! Their going to use you to kill!!"
      Kaoru's eyes opened wide as Kenshin dropped his sword with a heavy clang.
      "Spare her life for mine."
      Kaoru felt her heart freeze followed with the rest of her body.
      No Kenshin...no...
      She began to cry as Kenshin approached them. She looked up into his face
as he came before her, his features warm and soft. Large droplets of hot
tears flowed down her cold cheeks. He smiled a gentle smile.
      "Kaoru-dono, please don't cry. I will return, I promise."
      He sounded so sure of himself.
      "...No...Kenshin, you can't leave us." she sobbed at the end of the
sentence. It was no good.
      Another figure grabbed Kenshin from behind and held him in the same
submissive pose. She heard Sanosuke swearing as he tried to get up, only to
be blasted down again. The man behind her shifted his position, he took the
dagger from her neck and slammed her in the pressure point with the metal hilt.
      Everything was becoming blurry. Before she lost consciousness she saw
Kenshin's gentle smiling face, clear and glowing.
      Kenshin........


*********************

      When she woke up the next morning, she was in her own bed. Her room was
bathed in light like every other Summer morning. Everything seemed normal.
      Maybe it was a dream.
      Kaoru wasted no time sprinting down the silent house. She surveyed the
yard and the kitchen before reaching Kenshin's room. She nearly flung the
wooden door off it's railing.
      "KENSHIN!!"

      Silence.

      The room was neat and tidy..... just like Kenshin. The futon was folded
in the corner blanket and all and the room was also bathed in light. It was
like every other morning. Kaoru sank to her knees before the empty room,
feeling the sting of tears spring into her eyes. She was crying when
Sanosuke approached her
from behind.
      "Jo-chan..."
      "Sanosuke....please tell me he's doing the laundry outside.."
      Sanosuke remained silent. Kaoru felt the creaking of feet as she heard
someone else enter the hallway. "Kaoru....I found Kenshin's sakabatou."
      Yahiko pushed the sheathed sword under Kaoru's arm.
      "At least those 'visitors' had the curtosy of putting you back in your
room." Megumi came in behind Yahiko, fingering her badly messed hair. "They
left us all outside after they knocked us cold."
      The hallway was dreadfully silent for the next thirty seconds. Kaoru
stood up, holding Kenshin's sakabatou to her chest. She was not going to
freeze, not like when Kenshin went to Kyoto. This time she had been warned
before and that was already a big enough lead for her.
      "I have something to tell you all. Come to the living room table."
      Once they were all seated around the living room table, Kaoru began to
speak. She told them about her encounter with Tomoe on the plane between the
worlds. It was really unbelievable, but she had good faith that they would
believe her. And they did.

      "Kurokagei?? Where have I heard that name before....." Sanosuke propped
his elbows on the table.
      Megumi was also deep in thought. Yahiko was trying to look like he was
thinking, but Kaoru could tell that he was drawing a blank. Kaoru sat there
looking at the light green tea refract sunrays. Even though it was a hot
summer morning, she felt icy. She swooshed the green liquid in the cup as it
warmed her hands.
      "Kurokagei......Kurokagei, Wait a minute!!" Sanosuke let his hands slip
from under his head.
      "Kurokagei, those clan of Ninjas that were driven out of the Tokyo a
hundred years back!!"
      "That's right!" Megumi jumped in. "They were their own revolutionaries
who fought against the government before the Ishin shi shi came about!" she
frowned, her red lips drawing together tightly.
      "But weren't they wiped out by the samurai?"
      "Who knows? I bet'cha there was a good chance that some of them escaped.
They were no ordinary Ninjas. Nothing like the Oniwabanshu." Sanosuke's
brown eyes narrowed deeply. "They were a little luny if you ask me, they
were into some sort of freaky antics called 'the blood bind'."
      "Blood bind? That was what Tomoe-san was talking about!"
      For the first time that morning Kaoru felt a gleam of hope. Everything
was fitting in.
      "So all we have to do is track them down and get Kenshin."
      "Ochiskei (Not so fast) Jo-chan."
      Sanosuke pushed himself away from the table and looked out at the yard.
His expression grim.
      "If what you say is true about using the 'blood bind' against Kenshin. We
are in deep shit. I have a feeling that those weird zombie-men were under
the blood bind. And there's probably more where that came from."
      The last strand of hope deminished from Kaoru's eyes. Kaoru breathed a
broken whisper.
      "But if Kenshin..is put under that blood bind...he's going to start
killing again....No...no. Don't you see....it's no good...We have to go to
him.....we have to save his sanity while he's still there....."

      ".....If we don't...Kenshin will disappear forever."

      The mere presence of the words were enough to haunt her for years. To
think the words escaped from her own lips, why was she so stupid? Now
everybody else would be daunted by the same thought.
      Stupid, stupid. She had only caused more worry.
      "I'm sorry....I didn't mean to say that."
      "It's ok, Jo-chan...you're right. We have to do something."
      Kaoru brightened. "You really mean it?"
      Megumi smiled. "Of course we mean it. After all Ken-san has done for us,
we can't just let him be controlled by some freaky weirdoes."
      "Yeah!! We are the Kenshin-gumi after all!!" Yahiko bounced to a stand.
"Well, minus Kenshin, at least for now.......I guess we can't be the
Kenshin-gumi if there's no Kenshin, huh? I know!! From this day fourth we'll
be called the Yahiko-gumi."
      Three tea cups recashaed off Yahiko's thick skill. He fell to the floor,
bubbles foaming out of his  open mouth. They all laughed.
      Kaoru smiled.

      Everything will be back to normal.

      Keep faith, Kaoru..

                      keep faith.

      For the rest of the day they were packing their stuff and savaging all
the money they could. Sanosuke and Megumi dropped by the Akabeko to borrow
some money. They told Tae about what happened and she immediately handed
them a bag of money each.
      "This is all I have..but you have to bring him back ok? Promise me! For
Kaoru-chan's sake."
      "Thank you so much, Tae-san. We'll pay you back as soon as possible."
      "And don't worry about Jo-chan." Sanosuke smiled. "We'll take good care
of her."
      The were about to leave when Sanosuke felt something tugging at his shirt
sleeve. He looked down to see Tsubame wistfully looking up at him.
      "Take care of Yahiko-kun too."
      He grinned.
      "Oh yes I will lil girl, no need to worry about him getting in to trouble."
      Tsubame smiled her adoring little smile.
      They departed from the newly located Akabeko and began engrossing
thierselves in the markets around.
      Yahiko gritted his teeth as Kaoru's bamboo sword was slashed above him.
      "Stronger hands, Yahiko. The ougi is not designed for marsh-mellows!!"
      "I know!!!" a look of determination crossed his face. They continued
practise until Sanosuke and Megumi returned. Then they ate and washed up
before retiring to their rooms.
      Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

        (Critism please!! I know it sucks but I need to know where!!)
                        :)-Mihoshi



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