Disclaimer: The great and powerful Watsuki Nobuhiro (and a whole lot of
other people) owns Rurouni Kenshin. I just borrow it now and then
because otherwise the plot bunnies would eat me alive. So (once again)
please don?t sue me. The plot bunnies wouldn?t like it.

Summary: Kenshin?s past comes back to haunt him and a new danger starts
to hunt in Tokyo.

Rating: R, swearing, death, murder, blood and all around nastiness (I?m
not kidding).

Info: Yay! I broke twenty reviews. Thank you to everyone that has been
reviewing, it?s probably gotten me to write more of this story than I
ever thought I?d get done.

 

A KILLING MOVE

By COLLEEN

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Chapter 10a

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After dinner, when they had all returned home, Kenshin sat outside on
the dojo?s veranda feeling nervous. His current anxiety wasn?t about a
possible killer in the area or about the fact that he seemed to be being
haunted by his own personal ghost.

It was about Kaoru.

She still hadn?t asked him about this afternoon and the wait was
starting to get to him. If she didn?t raise the issue soon he?d end up
telling her everything just to relieve the tension.

And he didn?t want to tell her too much, just enough to keep her safe.
He no longer had to worry about his other friends, as he had already
managed to warn Sano and Yahiko about the possible danger. While Kaoru
had been busy attempting to help Megumi in the kitchen he had quickly
sketched out the situation with the killer to them. He had decided not
to tell them or her about Saitou. His involvement would just worry Kaoru
further and he couldn?t trust the boy or the brawler not to say
anything. They were too good at accidentally letting things slip. As for
his ghostly visitor, talking about her wasn?t even to be considered.

Kenshin fidgeted mentally while still managing to appear serene on the
surface. If Kaoru didn?t ask soon then all his planning out of what to
tell her would be for nought. He?d probably be so happy to get this off
his chest that he?d babble out something he shouldn?t.

?Kenshin??

His name, spoken by the soft voice behind him, caused his shoulders to
tense up momentarily before they relaxed as relief hit him. *Finally!*
he thought before turning to speak to her.

?Hai Kaoru dono??

Kaoru almost snorted as she looked into most innocent face she had ever
seen on the rurouni. Where she had been suspicious before she was now
certain. Something was very wrong.

?Kenshin? she said again, her voice now strained through gritted teeth.

Kenshin?s smile, already so wide it should have spit his face, actually
managed to widen further before he damped it down to a more serious
look. ?Gomen Kaoru dono, I can see that you are worried about something,
please tell me what it is.?

Kaoru looked at him in shock. ?Baka, that was supposed to be my line.?

Kenshin laughed lightly and moved over slightly where he was sitting on
the veranda. He motioned for Kaoru to join him. She sat down grudgingly;
unhappy to give up the advantage of size she had while standing over the
sitting rurouni. It?s hard to be menacing when you?re both at face to
face height.

Rarely one to beat around the bush Kaoru jumped right to the chase.
?Kenshin where did you go today? I was really worried about you when I
found the laundry all messed up like that.?

?Gomen nasai Kaoru dono. Kenshin paused for a moment to reorder his
thoughts. ?The laundry was an accident and I did not have time to fix it.?

?But where did you go??

?To a murder scene.? Kenshin looked up into Kaoru?s eyes to gauge her
reaction. ?The police wanted a second opinion about the killer?s ability
with a sword, that they did.?

Kaoru felt her body relax. While she was distressed to hear about the
murder if all they wanted was advice then the problem was already over.
Her eyes narrowed at the thought and she looked back at the red headed
rurouni.

?So that?s all they wanted. There isn?t anything else happening, ne??

?Well.....?

?Kenshinnnnnnnnn.?

Kenshin gave a small chuckle and told Kaoru ?no, there is nothing else
happening with the police. However, I did want to warn you about the
killer.?

Kaoru looked at him puzzled. Why would she have to be warned?

?The killer is apparently offering a prize to the victims to allow
themselves to be hunted. If they can make it through the night and to
where the money is hidden then they win and receive the money.?

?That?s disturbing, but why...??

?Why warn you?? She nodded at him. ?The victims that the killer chooses
are more dangerous each time. I am afraid that a Kendo instructor such
as you would make a tempting target to him.?

?Baka, if I?m a tempting target then you must be the grand prize.?

?Oro??

?Baka.?

Kenshin wiped the surprised look off his face. ?Gomen Kaoru, I had not
thought of that. I was more worried about you and Sano and Yahiko, that
I was.?

Kaoru?s eyes widened in fear. ?The boys, we have to warn them before...?

?It is all right Kaoru dono, I warned them earlier before dinner, that I
did. I just wanted to tell you about it when we had more time to talk.?

Kaoru didn?t know if she should feel happy that he wanted to talk to her
about it in depth or insulted that he felt she needed more then the
quick warning he must have given the guys. She looked into Kenshin?s
face and noticed that he was looking at her with loving concern. She
sighed, deciding that that look was enough to forgive him any insult,
and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Kenshin was a little startled when Kaoru rested her head on his shoulder
but he hid it and reached his arm around her. They sat there awhile and
quietly enjoyed the night and each other.

 

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

 

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Chapter10b

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Zenko was getting pissed off. He had been following that green kimonoed
bitch around since last night and she still wouldn?t teach him what he
needed to know.

And he knew she could teach him. If he were ever going to hunt down the
bastards that snuffed him he would need to be able to wrap his hands
around their necks when he found them. Right now that wasn?t possible.

So he stood there watching her watch the red head. He couldn?t see what
was so important about the guy but she was sticking to him like glue and
until she finished her business with him they weren?t going anywhere.

He wondered what was up with that. Most of the time she seemed to be
complacent, practically Zen like in her regard for the man. Every now
and then though she looked like she was thinking the same thoughts about
red that he was thinking about the assholes that had killed him. As he
wasn?t completely stupid he knew enough not to ask. Those few times she
had let her anger overtake her for a moment he had felt pathetically
glad that he was already dead. At those times he had had the feeling
that if he had made so much as a wrong move she would have fried him on
the spot. And she wasn?t even angry with him.

Still if nothing was going to happen for awhile you?d think that she
could use the time to show him how to touch things. She could do it,
he?d seen her do the laundry (sort of, actually that still confused
him). If she could touch clothing and poles then why couldn?t he learn
to do the same? Besides, he was getting tired of accidentally falling
through walls every time he forgot and went and leaned against one.

And then there was the issue of his feet.

He kept trying not to look at them, or rather at where they ought to be,
but he wasn?t having much success. The weird thing was they still felt
like they were still there. If he wasn?t looking at them then he would
have sworn that his feet were attached to his legs and firmly planted on
the ground. As soon as he looked down though it was another matter.

His legs where still there to just below his knees, then they started to
grow indistinct. By the time you got to the space just above his ankles
there just wasn?t anything there anymore.

He looked back over to his green kimonoed companion and wondered how she
had gotten so lucky as to have died in something that was long enough to
hide her nonexistent feet. Not that he wanted to drag around in an over
long kimono or even a pair of formal hakama but an every day pair of the
pleated pants would be nice around now. Even if they didn?t reach to the
ground the size of the pant leg would probably block his view better
than the European pants he had on now.

He sighed and moved his attention towards the red head sitting with a
young woman and then back to the kimonoed bitch. She was smiling at the
scene like she was watching some goofy romantic play. Actually, now that
he thought about it, he?d noticed that she hadn?t gotten unaccountably
mad at the small man ever since she had dumped him into the wash tub.
That incident seemed to have broken the mood that had created her anger
in the first place.

Zenko, bored out of his mind, grumbled in frustration to himself and was
about to take another run at getting the woman to teach him something
when red?s girl went into the dojo to prepare for bed. The Unnamed Woman
in Kimono headed off for a meeting with the red head leaving Zenko to
stand there, fuming. Pissed off he walked over to the nearest tree and
took a swing at it.

Forgetting once again that he was insubstantial.

Zenko passed through the tree and part way into the ground before he was
able to control his sinking. Luckily for his mental well being he didn?t
realize just how stupid he looked with his ass in the air and his head
and shoulders stuck in the ground. He swore at his predicament and
started to pull himself back into an upright position. After a lot of
grunting and groaning and the near exhausting of an impressive
collection of obscenities he managed to drag himself back into an
upright position. Exhausted he staggered over to lean against the same
tree and, stumbling through it again, gave voice to one of his favourite
sayings.

?SON OF A BITCH THIS CAN NOT BE HAPPENING TO ME.?

That did it.

He was going to get that bitch to teach him what he needed to know right
now. After that he was going to track down the bastards that had killed
him and fillet them. Decision made he stalked his way over to where the
green kimono and the red head were talking.

It was time that these things stopped happening to him and happened to
others. It was time to hunt those bastards down. It was time to stop
falling through trees.

It was just fucking time.

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_End of Chapter 10_

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