Brothers in Arms

A Rurouni Kenshin & Yuu*Yuu*Hakusho crossover

by Sionna Klassen

Part I

Prologue

-A forest in Honshu, 1853-

The guards reflexively loosened their swords in their sheaths as
another crashing sound came from inside the locked box that was the size
of a small room. There were heavy chains on the doors, but that didn't
necessarily mean they'd stay closed, not with what was locked in there.
They stood quietly, listening as the noise of something clawing in a
frenzy at the doors increased and then died again, replaced by a sudden
smashing of flesh against the unmoving wood. A high, thin howl rose
through the air from inside, filled with horror and anger, the voice of a
despairing child.
Across the glade from the sturdily-built prison, a silver fox
moved stiffly in its cage liberally adorned with demon-wards and licked
again at a small but deep puncture wound in its leg, whimpering softly,
listening to the wordless animal screaming of the thing caged in the
larger box a few yards away.
the fox thought miserably.

-Outside Tokyo, twenty-four years later; early Meiji period-

Kenshin slashed around him, so quickly his katana inscribed
silver arcs of light across the dark face of the night air, taking down
another ten of the men who surrounded him with multiple strokes so swift
they blurred into one. It wasn't enough. He was tiring, there were too
many against him. He kept dancing backwards to avoid being tripped up by
the bodies piled around his feet. They weren't dead; he had more than
enough skill to prevent that from happening, and more than enough
inclination. He also had the wits to realize that some of the men still
chasing him were the same ones he had knocked down earlier, using his
reluctance to kill against him.
This was taking too long. If he couldn't get out of this quickly,
they might overwhelm him through sheer force of numbers. He was already
being slowed down by several minor cuts inflicted by their blades. He
whirled to parry another attack, simultaneously smashing the blunt edge
of his blade into another opponent's ribs. He heard a crack and the man
fell with a thud to the grass, but there were another five ready to take
his place. He could hear the harsh sound of his own gasping breathing,
and so could they. They grinned, white teeth flashing in the moonlight.
They could tell he was tiring.
Kenshin avoided an attempted blade-lock and dodged a slice with
so little room to spare that strands of his red hair parted under the
blade's razor edge and fell to the ground. At least Kaoru-dono was safely
at home; he'd managed to slip out of town to a deserted glade in the
woods near the Hakko Shrine as soon as he'd gotten an inkling of what
these men had planned for him. No one would be hurt in the battle, and
there were no opportunities to take hostages.
He just wished that he'd known there would be so many after him.
As he turned again, his eyes searching for the next threat, he
caught sight of a blade aimed at his throat. Immediately he moved to
block, his weary reflexes realizing too late that it had been a feint. He
whirled to try and avoid the stroke he sensed more than saw coming at
him, but it was too late. The sword stabbed into his thigh and he lost
his balance, reeling backwards, leaving himself open to another thrust
that sank deep into his shoulder. A third sword swept in and cut along
his side in such a swift movement that he felt no pain from it. He
crumpled into the dirt, the two blades still buried in his flesh, heaving
shuddering breaths.
"Finish the job," one of the men growled, and a circle of swords
lifted to gleam in the moonlight.
That was when the giant vines exploded from the ground and
captured every man in their coils like enormous snakes.

Kurama had been prowling the woods around the shrine when his
sharp ears had caught the sounds of battle. Moving to investigate, still
in his full-fox form, he found a man with a long red pony-tail of hair
fighting off an army by himself. Intrigued, he kept to the bushes and
watched. The unknown samurai's tunic was a pale shade of red spotted in
places with darker stains where the swords of his opponents had found
their marks. Two scars formed an X on his left cheek. The way he moved
was just past the edge of superhuman. His speed was far greater than
those facing him, yet he hesitated to kill. Kurama wondered why. If it
were him, these petty thugs would not have lasted an instant.
Petty thugs they were, by their shabby clothes undoubtedly hired
by someone who didn't pay them overly well. Yet Kurama noticed that what
their clothes lacked in quality, their blades made up for. They did not
break during the fighting, even when the men fell, even fighting against
this samurai whose skills were of a grade higher than any of them could
hope to achieve in their lifetimes.
This spoke of conspiracy against this man, and by people rich and
influential at that. Kurama's interest was peaked even more. He wondered
who this man was and how he had gained such powerful enemies.
When the samurai fell, Kurama intervened.
He caught the thugs in tangling vines strong enough to hold them
no matter how they struggled and tough enough to resist being cut apart
by their blades. Then he assumed his natural form and moved silently from
the bushes like smoke, smiling as the men stared at him and some yelped
in alarm, "A youko!"
"Kisama," one of the more foolish men shouted at him. "This is
none of your business!"
Kurama smiled and tightened the vines around that particular
idiot ever so slightly. "I live at the Hakko Shrine," he replied, noting
with satisfaction that some of the men gasped and went pale at the
thought that he might actually be the deity housed in the White Fox
Shrine. He wasn't, but it did him no harm to let them think that. "I
heard the fighting and was... disturbed by it. I think that makes it my
business."
By this point, most of the men were cringing in fear, as best as
they could while being thoroughly tied up. The red-haired samurai lifted
his head and stared at Kurama with wide, glazed blue eyes. Kurama said,
"I will let you go on one condition - leave. And do not come back." He
wouldn't ordinarily have hesitated to kill them all, but there were
enough of them that it might raise awkward questions for those priests at
the shrine, and they'd been very good to him thus far. Besides, these
thugs had not acted against him directly. If they had, the situation
would have been quite different.
He released the vines, but did not make them shrink into the
ground again, waiting for the men to make their move. He waved his tail
behind him, like a cat hunting a mouse, watching them with the coldest
look he could put into his golden eyes.
Most of them turned and fled immediately, and even the more
belligerent of them was soon persuaded to turn tail and run. Kurama
snorted in derision of the humans and made the vines creep back into the
earth, leaving no sign of themselves behind. Kurama walked to where the
samurai lay half-curled on his side in the grass, still staring up at
him.
The man tried to get up, and when that failed, he tried to escape
by crawling away. Kurama stopped him with a hand on his uninjured
shoulder, and the samurai lashed out at him like a pain-maddened animal,
sweeping his still tightly-clutched sword in a wobbly arc. Kurama caught
the blade without even cutting his fingers, holding it still. Gently
Kurama tugged the sword out of the man's failing grip and caught him as
he collapsed unconscious. He pulled the two blades free of the samurai's
limbs and left them on the ground, dripping blood into the earth.
He lifted the man easily into his arms and carried his limp form
into the woods.

Kenshin awoke with a cry as pain burned into his side. He
reflexively tried to lash out in response, but he found himself unable to
move. He opened his eyes and forced them to focus on the face in front of
him, pale skin surmounted by a misty fall of hair like moonlight, topped
with two triangular ears coated with silky fur. The golden eyes glanced
at his face for a moment and then looked down again. Kenshin gasped as
whatever it was touched his side again, burning like salt in the wound.
He jerked his head back and tensed against the thin vines he could feel
wrapped around his shoulders and wrists, holding him down.
"Please stay still," the youko said in a deep voice, as if
Kenshin had much of a choice in the matter. "I'm not finished yet."
Kenshin forced himself to breathe deeply and craned his neck to
look around, avoiding the youko's ancient gaze. They were in a small
cave, the earth supported by a massive tangle of tree roots. The place
was lit by a fire in the center and it was full of oddly-assorted
cushions and blankets, enough to make a comfortable nest, and here and
there a pretty bauble of some kind, like the golden necklace that hung
from a root and gleamed in the firelight. The stones didn't look like
anything that Kenshin was familiar with, now red, now violet in the
flickering light.
He tensed again, clenching his eyes shut as the burning pain
returned, then slowly faded to something more bearable. He opened his
eyes again and raised his head to look. The youko had finished dressing
his wounds, and seemed satisfied. The vines untied themselves and Kenshin
shifted, then winced as every limb informed him that moving was a bad
idea at the moment.
He looked up at his rescuer. "Who are you?" he asked finally.
"My name is Kurama," the youko replied, fastidiously cleaning the
blood off his hands with the help of a bowl of water. "And yours?"
"Himura Kenshin," he answered, giving the truth instead of his
usual first answer of "Wanderer."
"Can I ask why so many people seem so interested in killing you?"
Kurama asked.
"Can I ask why you decided to help me?" Kenshin returned guardedly.
The youko laughed shortly. "If you must know, I find you very
interesting. Anyone who has as many people after his head as you do must
have done something spectacular."
"Not really," Kenshin answered noncommittally. "I suppose I just
have a knack for annoying people."
"You and me both," replied Kurama. He stretched out lazily on the
cushions opposite from his guest. "Well? I answered your question."
Kenshin tried to shift into a position that would be more
comfortable, but in his state comfort seemed to be an impossibility. He
considered his words carefully. It was no use trying to deflect the
youko's questions, and just as much a waste of time to try and win at
games of words. Kenshin decided that he didn't have much option at this
point but to be honest. "Like I said, I have a knack for annoying
people," he said. "Mostly they happen to be people who have a lot of
influence to throw around."
"How so?" Kurama asked, eyes half-lidded, reflecting the orange
light from the fire in a way that made them seem to glow.
"Everyone wants power," Kenshin said with a very slight shrug.
"Those who are willing to use unjust methods of getting it usually seem
to wind up running afoul of me or my friends for some reason or another."
"And such people get notoriously upset about being thwarted,"
Kurama agreed. "I see your problem."
"And they decided that getting rid of me would solve theirs."
Kenshin looked up at the ceiling, wondering where the smoke from the fire
escaped that they weren't choking on it. "Not that complicated, really.
What about you?"
"Me?" Kurama asked.
"I still don't really know why you decided to help me, or even
what you're doing in this world. Shouldn't you be with the spirits?"
Kurama groaned. "Oh, all right, yes I should, technically. But
you don't understand one fundamental aspect of having a lifespan several
times longer than humans do."
"Which is?"
"The utter boredom."
Kenshin stifled a laugh. Kurama looked at him with slight
irritation. "There is nothing to *do* in the Makai," he emphasized.
"Nothing except fight. It gets excruciatingly dull after a very short
amount of time. So I came here to look around for a while."
"Looking for adventure?" Kenshin teased. "Or some priests to feed
you offerings until you got fat?"
"This is the gratitude I get for rescuing you?" Kurama
complained.
"Don't try to tell me that's *not* the reason you picked a shrine
named 'White Fox' to lurk around," Kenshin asked with mock surprise.
"Oh, all right. You humans. I knew at least that it would be safe
there - who in their right mind would try to attack a sacred fox? I did
come here to get *away* from fighting for a while, not invite more of it."
Kenshin smiled, glad that Kurama hadn't taken offense at his
teasing. Things could have gotten rather unpleasant if he had - Kenshin
remembered the vines, although after that things were hazy at best in his
memory. "So I'm a way to relieve your boredom? I'm flattered."
Kurama shook silver hair from his eyes. "I'd say you benefited
from it as well."
Kenshin closed his eyes briefly. "It won't last. As soon as I
leave here, they'll try again."
"Then we'll have to insure that they don't do that, won't we?"
Kurama asked with a smile.
Kenshin looked at him questioningly.
Kurama shrugged liquidly. "I have a few ideas for how we might
get them off your tail, but at the moment you're in no shape to do
anything but rest, so I suggest you leave it to me."
"But..." Kenshin protested. "Kaoru-dono will be worried. I have
to let her know I'm all right."
"Relatively speaking," Kurama said. He looked sternly at Kenshin.
"I hate to tell you this, but you're not going anywhere."
"So I have to just stay in this cave of yours?" Kenshin asked dispiritedly.
"You don't have much of a choice," Kurama pointed out. "As you
pointed out, as soon as you leave, your enemies will attack again, and
you're hardly in any condition to fight them." He sighed at Kenshin's
expression. "Look, there's only so much I can do. It won't take you as
long to heal as you expect."
Kenshin sighed, closing his eyes.
When he opened them again, Kurama was gone - at least to his
sight. Kenshin could still sense his presence -
"Wha--? Kura--" he started, when Kurama's pale hand covered his mouth.
"Shh," the youko hissed. "Searchers above."
Kenshin listened carefully and could just make out the sounds of
footsteps thumping softly through the earth around them. Kenshin didn't
know how likely it was that they could hear any sounds that he or Kurama
made, but there had to be some hole for the smoke to escape after all.
Kenshin waited until Kurama relaxed and sheepishly released his hold
before speaking. "That was fast."
"Not really," Kurama said. "You just fell asleep for a few hours.
They're determined. I didn't think they'd start searching the forest
after the scare I gave them."
"They might not have had a choice in the matter," Kenshin said.
He swallowed - his throat was dry almost to the point of feeling
scratchy.
Kurama noticed. "Thirsty?" When Kenshin nodded, he held out a cup
carefully so Kenshin could drink from it without having to move much. It
tasted sort of like tea but more bitter, and Kenshin had a sneaking
suspicion what it was. But he drank it anyway, and sooner than he
expected he found his eyelids becoming heavy.
"Kurama," he said fuzzily, realizing belatedly that there was
something very important he had to ask. Now if he could just remember
what it was.
"Shh. It can wait," Kurama said.
"Kaoru-dono..." Kenshin insisted, and then fell asleep before he
could finish the sentence.

It was a simple matter to write the brief message and fold it
securely. Kurama finished it quickly and then tucked it into a pocket of
his robes. Kenshin was sleeping peacefully, and would probably do so for
the rest of the night and well into the day. Kurama thought about the
searchers that had come looking, and decided that it wasn't safe yet to
leave Kenshin alone.
So he reverted to full-fox form and curled in a ball of silver
fur on the pile of cushions, settling down to rest, not quite sleeping,
to keep guard.

"Sanosuke!" Yahiko panted, waving a hand. Sanosuke turned, white
jacket flaring in the wind.
"Anything?" the tall man asked shortly.
Yahiko shook his head, winded. His short legs took him a lot
longer to search such a big area. "Nothing," he gasped. "It's like
Kenshin vanished into thin air!"
"Damn," Sanosuke muttered. "Something must be wrong, he never
goes off by himself for this long without a word."
"What'll we do?" Yahiko asked. He tried not to let on that he was
nervous, but anything that could take out Kenshin... well, it would be
more than he could handle.
Sanosuke looked at him somberly. "It's too dark to find anything
now. Let's go back to the dojo. Until Kenshin returns, it's our job to
protect Kaoru, after all."
"She doesn't want to be protected," Yahiko complained. "I think
she makes my life difficult on purpose just because of that."
Sanosuke ruffled his hair, which Yahiko would never have taken
from anyone else except maybe Kenshin, but then Sanosuke put up with
Yahiko biting him. "We do it anyway," Sanosuke said. "Kaoru's a damn
stubborn girl - comes of trying to run a dojo by yourself I guess - but
right now she's worried sick about Kenshin and if we don't stop her,
she's likely to do something really stupid, like go after somebody by
herself." Yahiko looked up at him, surprised that he was so calm about this.
"You're not worried?"
Sanosuke laughed shortly. "Sure I am - but you know who we're
talking about here, right? Kenshin'll come back." He gave Yahiko a push
toward the dojo. "Come on, let's get back or we'll miss dinner."
Yahiko trotted toward the dojo. Sanosuke turned to look up at the
crescent moon above, wind blowing strands of hair into his eyes.
"Don't make me a liar, Kenshin," he said, and then turned and
headed down the street.

Kurama frowned, reaching out with one pale hand to touch
Kenshin's flushed cheek, tracing the edge of the old crossed scars.
Kenshin was restless and feverish, breathing raggedly as he slept. Kurama
had already removed the bandages and inspected the wounds, then rewound
new ones that covered most of Kenshin's chest and shoulder and his thigh.
The wounds by themselves were not life-threatening, but despite Kurama's
use of plants to speed the healing they were starting to become infected.
Kurama frowned again, resting his head on his crossed arms.
His efforts alone might not be enough, but there was no one to
ask for help. Kenshin was in no shape to be moved, even if taking him
back to the city had not been utterly impossible for the reason that
someone would undoubtedly notice them and they would be beset by an army
again. Bringing someone here was equally impossible. There seemed to be
nothing he could do but try his best and hope that it was enough.
He wondered briefly why he cared so much about the fate of this
human. He hadn't truly needed to involve himself in this; he certainly
wasn't aiding Kenshin out of any sense of moral justice. But in all his
many visits to the Ningenkai, he'd never managed to distance himself from
his fascination with these creatures, who threw their short, weak lives
away for the most spurious of reasons, and yet burned with a passion that
most youkai had lost by the end of their first decade, when they had
already grown tired of the endless petty wars that dominated their
existence.
And out of these humans, Kenshin was one of the most interesting
Kurama had ever met. The priests who fed him at the temple and called him
respectful names even when he wasn't in direct sight were monotonous and
dull in their activities, even if they were good to him. Kurama had no
desire to venture toward a human city without very good cover, and since
it was broad daylight outside, he wasn't about to try until nightfall.
The moon would be at barely a sliver tonight, and it would be a very good
time to cause the people behind the attack on Kenshin some grief. They
would be easy enough to track down; men at that level were rather
conspicuous.
Assuming that it was safe to leave Kenshin.
Kurama had been staying in his den for two days now, only
venturing out when it was absolutely necessary to take the food offered
at the shrine since he didn't want to take the time to hunt. Ever since
he had realized that Kenshin wasn't getting better as fast as he'd
expected, he'd delayed his plans to go into the city. But Kenshin's
condition was slowly worsening, and unless he did something more drastic,
he had a feeling that he would be too late.
He opened the passage and climbed up to the forest floor. In the
sunshine it became much easier to grow plants at high speed, giving them
the food they needed. He plucked seeds from his hair and buried them
under handfuls of soil, then stared intently at the ground, watching the
seedlings sprout and grow at an incredible rate, blooming finally into a
tiny profusion of very exotic-looking plants. They were just as exotic as
they looked, for these plants were native to the Makai, and normally
couldn't survive here. Kurama took the plants, dirt still clinging to
their roots, and slithered back down into his den, closing the passage
behind him with a thought.
He worked for a long time until he had everything ready. Then he
turned to his sleeping patient and shook him slightly. "Kenshin," he said
insistently. "Wake up."
Kenshin finally half-opened his eyes and looked fuzzily at
Kurama, mumbling something inaudible. Kurama looked at him seriously. He
looked barely conscious. "Drink this," he said, holding out a cup and
hoping that Kenshin wouldn't argue.
He didn't, and swallowed it without complaint, even though the
taste was undoubtedly awful. Kurama nodded and waited as Kenshin
struggled to focus on him. Finally he gave up the fight and sank back
into sleep. Kurama waited until he was certain that Kenshin was
completely unconscious, and then unwrapped the bandages again, picking up
another bowl.

Kaoru walked down the street, her head lowered as she gazed
unseeingly at the road. Sanosuke walked next to her, unsuccessfully
attempting to engage her in conversation. Occasionally she nodded, but
since Sanosuke had just told her in an excited tone that he'd just seen a
cat with wings and she had nodded, he didn't think she was listening.
Finally he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and turned her
to face him, watching her blue eyes finally focus on something.
"Jouchan," he said gently, "There's nothing you can do but keep from
giving up hope. He'll come back."
Her eyes filled and she ruthlessly scrubbed the tears away. "It's
been four days, Sano. How can you pretend that nothing's wrong?"
"Hey, I didn't say that. But this is the legendary Hitokiri
Battousai we're talking about here. In any case, don't you think
something would have happened to us by now if they'd..." No, he couldn't
spare her. She was a tough girl, she could take it. "...killed him?
Remember all those creeps who wanted to take over the dojo and the only
reason they gave up was because it would be nuts to attack you while
Kenshin was protecting you? If he was really gone they would have been
all over us by now."
She raised her eyes again. "I guess you're right..."
"Yeah, I am. So let's go, huh? We don't want to make Ayame-chan
and Suzume-chan worried by being late."
She nodded and followed as they started back toward the dojo.
From an alley, a man in faded gray clothes slipped through the
crowd after them, keeping his eyes always locked on the two figures but
keeping far enough back that he was hidden from their sight. When they
arrived at the dojo, the man took careful note of the surrounding area
and then sprinted away.

Kurama sighed. He'd done all he could here, clearly. He reached
into his pocket and removed the note, staring at it. He looked back at
Kenshin and then nodded to himself, putting the note back. He changed his
body to his full-fox one, his shape shrinking and growing luxuriant
silver fur. He left the den and emerged into the dusk, closing the
passage behind him, and then bolted through the trees at incredible speed
toward the city.

Kenshin awoke clawing at the cushions he lay on, his body on
fire, his vision filled with nightmare images of blood. He tried to get
up and collapsed as the wounds stabbed pain across his nerves, then
forced himself up again, nearly falling against the shielded lamp whose
tiny flame scrawled painfully bright arcs of light across his eyes as he
moved. There was no silver shape watching him, only dark walls of earth
and huge tree roots. Kenshin tried to stand and couldn't make it; his leg
gave way underneath him and he fell to his knees again, somehow managing
not to collapse entirely. He dragged himself across the ground, his
fingers fumbling across the intertwined tree roots in search of an exit
in the wall. When he tripped over the same cushions again and realized
he'd gone full circle, he tried again, clawing at the dirt to try and
escape. Finally, exhausted, he slumped down into a heap against the wall,
closing his eyes hopelessly against the assault of the waking dreams.
"Kaoru-dono..." he whispered.

Kaoru sighed and turned over. She couldn't sleep.
She flung an arm over her head and stared up into the darkness of
the ceiling. The night outside was pitch black. What little moonlight
there would have been was smothered in clouds.
She knew intellectually that Sanosuke was right - Kenshin could
not be dead, or the dojo would have been crawling with scum. Actually,
probably the whole city would be - by this point there was almost no one
who had not heard of the Hitokiri Battousai and how it was absolute
insanity to pick a fight with him, and if he was gone, Kaoru doubted any
of the shadier elements of the city would waste a minute in rushing out
into the streets to celebrate the returning of their livelihoods without
the fear that Kenshin would show up and decide to put them rather
painfully out of business. Never mind that all he really wanted, all any
of them wanted, was to be left in peace; somehow they kept stumbling into
trouble.
No, Kenshin could not be dead.
But she wished she knew where he was.
She heard a floorboard creak next to her. She lunged upwards
instantly, reflexes honed by years of practice and - frequently of late -
real combat, dodging by her move out of the way of a wooden sword that
hit the futon where her midsection had been. She could just barely make
out a dim shape and punched it as hard as she could, rewarded with a
muffled "whoulf" as the intruder had the wind knocked out of him. Kaoru
sensed another threat behind her but it was too late this time - arms
grabbed her and she struggled, searching for leverage to throw them off,
trying to get a hand close enough to her mouth to bite hard. "Sanosuke!"
she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Yahiko! Somebody help!"
A blade pricked her throat. Kaoru froze.
"Where is the battousai?" a rough voice asked in her ear.
"I don't know," she said, a drop of sweat trickling down her cheek.
The blade moved away just as one of the arms behind her twisted
her arm back sharply enough to make her cry out. "Tell us, girl, and we
won't have to hurt you permanently. Where is he?"
"I don't know," Kaoru gasped. "I don't--"
Sanosuke slammed the door off its hinges, holding up a lamp.
Immediately the sword went back to Kaoru's neck. "Ah, perhaps you can
help us instead," the man holding it said in an oily voice. "Where is the
battousai?"
Sanosuke stood trembling in the doorway. "Hurt her and you die,"
he said very quietly.
"Maybe, but her first. Now *where is the battousai*?"
"I don't know," Sanosuke said.
"Not good enough," the man said, and pressed the blade into
Kaoru's skin. A drop of her blood trickled down the length of the blade
and dripped off the point to the floor.

Kenshin buried his face in his blood-smeared hands.

A breeze washed a sudden snowfall of sakura petals in through the window.
"What the hell?" the man muttered, reaching out to touch the
blossoms that floated in the air. "It's the middle of October--"
He did not have time to realize the mistake he'd made in taking
his attention off Sanosuke for the barest second. The fist hit his face
first.
As soon as the sword was safely away from Kaoru's neck, Sanosuke
whirled to take care of the other men. "I'd ask *you* where Kenshin is,
but I know you don't have a clue," he announced, and lifted his fists
together to crack his knuckles. "Jouchan, let's show these guys what you
get for breaking into people's houses in the middle of the night, hey?"
She snatched a wooden sword off the rack in the wall behind her
by feel. The light of the lamp that Sanosuke had set down flickered
crazily over the room in the breeze.The men decided that they wanted to
run away at that point.
Of course, they weren't given the chance.
Kaoru and Sanosuke found another group of men carrying off an
unconscious Yahiko, and taught them of the error of their ways as well.
After determining that Yahiko would be fine except for a bump on the
head, Kaoru leaned against the enclosing wall of the dojo and sighed. She
was very glad that Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan had been spending the night
at their grandfather's tonight so they hadn't been in any danger.
She reached down and picked up a velvet cherry petal from the
ground, wondering where the things had come from, and a piece of neatly
folded paper fell into her lap. She looked up immediately, but saw
nothing above her but shadowy tree branches, even with the help of the
lights that were now shining through the windows of the dojo buildings.
Hesitantly, she unfolded the paper.
read the neatly-brushed hiragana on the page.
Kaoru stared at it for a moment, then looked up at the dwarf
maple tree again, but this time when the breeze tugged at the branches
they dropped nothing more unusual than a flight of bright red leaves.
There was nothing else there.

Kurama flashed through the trees, well pleased with his work. By
the next afternoon all affairs within the expensive Western-style house
he'd targeted would come to a complete standstill while they tried to
repair the damage he'd done. Any food in the house that vermin could get
into would be ruined, thanks to a trail of fresh growing delicacies that
led straight into the kitchens. The plumbing was clogged with vines and
some of the pipes had been broken in the process. Ivy had wormed into the
walls enough that substantial cracks had formed. Kurama had considered,
then decided to wait until next time to surprise them with a tree that
had grown straight through the floor, all three floors of the house, and
out through the roof.
Playing with these fools was such fun. Kurama only regretted that
he wouldn't be able to see the owner of the house's face turning various
colors in anger. He arrived at his den and opened the entrance, the huge
tree root opening and hollowing itself out to permit his passage. He slid
down the smooth passage and hit the floor in youko shape, already aware
that something was wrong, not as he had left it.
He was startled to see Kenshin digging singlemindedly at a
section of the wall, ignoring Kurama's entrance completely.
That was impossible. There was no way Kenshin could have awakened
already. Granted, Kurama had weakened the dose of the plants he'd used to
make sure that a human could survive it, but he still should have been
unconscious for hours after Kurama returned. Kurama frowned and closed
the passage behind him, than moved silently forward. Kenshin took no
notice of him until he reached forward swiftly and snagged Kenshin's
wrists, stopping him.
"You're digging at the wrong wall," Kurama informed him. "You
won't get out that way."
The skin of Kenshin's hands was torn and bloodied, but he didn't
seem to notice. He looked straight through Kurama as if unaware of his
presence, but did not try to break free. Finally Kenshin raised his eyes,
the black pupils shrunk to pinpoints in a wash of blue. "Kaoru-dono," he
whispered hoarsely.
"You're obsessed," Kurama said as he tried to tug Kenshin away
from the wall. Kenshin resisted.
"I promised her I'd protect her," he explained distantly. "I failed."
"Kaoru is perfectly fine. I made sure of that. You can't protect
her in your state anyway, so leave it to me. I'll take your place."
Kenshin relaxed abruptly, falling forward into Kurama's arms.
Kurama caught him and adjusted his grip so he could see Kenshin's wounded
shoulder, and noticed with a twinge of surprise that despite the digging,
no new blood stained the bandages around Kenshin's shoulder, which meant
the wound was already healed enough that it hadn't reopened. He
half-carried Kenshin pack to the pillows and put him back, looking
disapprovingly at the torn skin on Kenshin's hands. More bandages. Good
thing he'd stolen a few more rolls during his run to the city.
Suddenly the fingers closed on his. He looked up and saw
Kenshin's eyes on him again. "Thank you," Kenshin said, and drifted into
sleep again, his grip on Kurama's fingers going lax. Kurama turned away,
suddenly disturbed.
Why did Kenshin believe him, trust him so easily?
And stranger yet - why had Kurama meant what he said?

"Dammit!" Takeshi muttered. He could not rest until that damned
battousai was dead and gone. And if he could get the youko too, that
would be even better. Because of him, Takeshi had gotten into plenty of
trouble with the boss and he hadn't gotten paid.
He went through the servants' entrance into the house, ready to
continue to the boss' study to report failure - once again - at finding
the battousai, but he was stopped short in the kitchen. The reason was
that the maids were screaming bloody murder and the manservants were
running around trying to catch what looked like an army of mice and rats.
Takeshi looked around and could see the rice wriggling as it spilled out
of holes the mice had gnawed in the bags.
Wriggling?
His stomach turned over as he realized what that meant.
As he looked around he realized that the entire kitchen was
infested with every disgusting creature he could think of. He glanced at
the sink and saw that it was filled with some kind of slimy plant, like
seaweed.
There was no way he was going to be able to cross this mess, and
he decided he didn't want to try. He quickly headed in the other
direction, trying not to step on anything that moved, which was a
difficult task with everything spread all over the floor. He hurried out
and decided that he would report to the boss later. He didn't really want
to be around the boss after a disaster like this had just happened.

"HA!"
Yahiko took another savage stroke at thin air, and another,
venting his frustration. He'd been worthless last night. Less than
worthless. He'd heard Kaoru scream and woke up, but hadn't even gotten a
good punch in before something cracked across his skull and he'd blacked
out. He knew that with Kenshin gone - no, missing - it was his and
Sanosuke's job to protect Kaoru, but what good had he been?
"HA!"
"You're gonna scare the kids," Sanosuke informed him. "They'll
look at your face and think you're a demon in a Noh play."
"I'm too weak!" Yahiko hissed between clenched teeth, taking
another swipe. "I stayed here to get stronger!"
"Come on kid, you were outnumbered and outclassed. There's no
shame in that. As it happens, I think we've got ourselves an ally."
"You mean those cherry petals?" Yahiko asked, pausing in his
practice for a moment and wiping sweat from his forehead. "I saw Kaoru
picking them up earlier."
Sanosuke nodded. "Now how the hell do you suppose cherry petals
got out here in the middle of October? And right then?"
"What, you think we've got spirits on our side?" Yahiko scoffed,
then belatedly realized that wasn't exactly the best tone to use if one
wanted to stay on the spirits' good side, if they really were involved.
"Well, it would sure explain a lot," Sanosuke said with a grin,
leaning back against the doorframe and chewing on a toothpick of a
fishbone.
"Maybe, but I'd feel happier if Kenshin came back. How long do
you think it'll be before they decide to take somebody hostage to try and
lure him out?"
Sanosuke looked at him in surprise. "Didn't think you'd think of that."
"Oh hell, like I haven't been used as a hostage enough to know it
happens all the time!" Yahiko said in a thoroughly annoyed tone. "It's
always either me or Kaoru. So what do we do if that happens?"
Sanosuke shrugged. "I come bail you out. Either that, or Kenshin
might have sent that note himself, you know."
"You mean he's hiding out?" Yahiko gasped.
"It's possible," Sanosuke said, folding his hands behind his
head. "You gotta admit, everybody's driving themselves nuts trying to
find him. Wouldn't surprise me if he does show up at just the right
moment. He's canny as a fox."
Yahiko's eyes were wide with admiration. He plopped down onto the
stairs and put his practice sword aside. "I hadn't thought of that!" He
grinned.
Sanosuke turned to look as Kaoru walked across the yard, frowning
slightly as he saw her slumped shoulders and depressed expression. If
this was a plan, he wished Kenshin would have clued them in on it...

Kurama bent his head and took a long drink from the cold, clear
water of the stream, then smoothed a patch of his silver fur that had
been roughed up by his passage through the forest. He hadn't attempted to
make the plants move out of his way this time, simply passed through them
or around them as they dictated. He twitched his tail, sitting on the
bank of the stream and wondering which way to go next. He didn't have to
worry about finding his way back; it was impossible for him to get lost
in this forest. His awareness of the plants around him gave him knowledge
of where everything in the forest was located. Finding the stream had
been simple.
Kurama could also sense the shrine and a couple of scattered
human dwellings from the way the plants had been repeatedly cut back
around them. He didn't intend to go near them, though. Youko or not, at
the moment he was still in kitsune form, which made him a bit more
vulnerable. The edge of the forest was as far as he wanted to go in broad
daylight.
It occurred to him to wonder how long he'd been roaming; he
hadn't really been paying attention. That was one of the problems with
staying in this form for too long, it was hard to focus on anything but
"now" and note the passage of time. He wasn't too concerned about it,
though. When Kurama had left, Kenshin's condition had vastly improved, to
the point where Kurama had made the tree roots hollow out a passage that
Kenshin could use to get out and stretch a bit if he wanted to, since he
couldn't simply hollow out the tree root the way Kurama could. When he'd
left, Kenshin had been practicing sword exercises very slowly and
carefully. His fever was completely gone and the wounds were half-healed
already, thanks in part to the plants Kurama had grown for the purpose.
But Kenshin had made no complaint about staying another day or so, until
he became less of an easy target.
Kurama's stomach decided it had been too long since he'd last
eaten, and Kurama obligingly started into the trees again, deciding what
he should catch for himself this time. Another advantage of being in this
smaller body was that it required less food, especially since much of
what the priests offered was going to feed Kenshin. Kurama opened his
awareness of the plants wider again, trying to feel disturbances that
might signal some herbivorous creature innocently eating its own lunch.
There was something quite close by. Kurama slicked his fur down and pushed
carefully through the underbrush, this time bending the plants around him
to mask his presence and then move out of the way so he made no noise. He
moved so he was downwind of the... he still couldn't quite figure out
what it was, he wasn't near enough yet... then he caught the scent. Kurama grinned to himself and eeled silently through
the plants, still using leaves to conceal his presence. White fur was
quite obvious against greenery even to an animal without color vision,
and he didn't want the squirrel to realize he was there until it was too
late.
He heard the rustling noises it was making as it dug in the
leaves on the ground, searching for buried nuts. Another few inches and
he could see it through the leaves. He tensed and inched forward, then
stopped. For an instant he remained perfectly still as the squirrel
turned so it was looking away from him. Then he pounced.
And missed. The squirrel started skittering away.
Kurama gave chase, snapping his jaws shut a few hairs
away from its tail. Another miss. He was just about to catch it in a web
of plants when giant teeth exploded from the ground and crushed his
foreleg in their grip.
Kurama crashed into the leaves and blacked out.

Kenshin stilled suddenly, abandoning the half-completed stroke.
He stood very still, listening, for a long moment, but finally shifted
and raised his sword again, wincing slightly as the muscles in his
shoulder twinged painfully. It was probably a good idea to stop. He
didn't want to push himself too far, no matter how much it rankled.
He changed stance again, experimentally shifting and bringing his
sword around in a slow arc, the movement smooth despite the dull pain of
his injured shoulder muscles. He rested most of his weight on his bad
leg, but it did not give way underneath him. Satisfied, he sheathed his
sword and reached out to pluck a bright red maple leaf from a tree,
stepping closer to the trunk.
He heard a tiny metallic scrape and instantly flung himself
backwards, his reflexive action saving him by a fraction of a second as a
metal trap snapped its teeth shut where his foot had just been, catching
only leaves in its teeth. Kenshin landed on his bad leg and this time it
did give, spilling him into the drifts of autumn leaves carpeting the
ground. He stared at the shiny new metal of the trap that had been buried
under the leaves in front of the tree, then pushed himself to his feet
and looked around sharply, the movement sending leaves drifting from his
hair to the ground.
The trap was - just barely - large enough to trap a human foot.
It probably wouldn't have caused much in the way of permanent damage,
probably not even broken the ankle bones.That meant it was likely for a
smaller target.
Kenshin thought of the silver fox that had watched him practice
for a few minutes before vanishing into the undergrowth.

It must have been several hours later when Kurama awoke,
consciousness slowly returning to him in bits and pieces. There was dirt
in his eye and mouth, he was too weak to move, and his leg was on fire.
He opened the eye that wasn't in the dirt and looked at the metal trap
that had its teeth locked on his leg. The white fur around it was stained
red.
Kurama tried to create vines to pry open the metal teeth, but he
was too weak and the plants grew only to a few useless inches before
disappearing again. He lay still after that, aware that nothing he could
do would open the trap, and trying would only make the pain worse.
He might have blacked out again, because it seemed like only a
few minutes later that he heard a crashing noise in the bushes that he
easily identified as the approach of a human. No other animal made so
much noise as it passed through the forest. Kurama knew that it was
probably the hunter who had set up this trap in the first place, and that
he was probably as good as dead, but he was too exhausted to care.
A man pushed through the bushes and stared at Kurama for an
instant, his eyes lighting up. Kurama identified him instantly as one of
the men who had been after Kenshin a week ago, one of the ones who had
almost been stupid enough to fight him.
Kurama thought bitterly.
"Not so high-and-mighty now, are you?" the man taunted, pulling
out a wooden sword. Kurama growled, hoping the bastard would make the
mistake of coming within range of his teeth. He didn't have the strength
to create any plants.
The sword descended in a swift arc to smash against his side.
Kurama held back a yowl of pain and tried to scramble out of the way as
more crushing blows landed one after the other. He felt a rib snap and
warm blood trickled through his fur. Before long he couldn't move at all,
and he lay limp in the red leaves, his entire body wracked with pain. The
bandit paused for breath and then lifted his sword for the final stroke,
ready to smash open Kurama's skull.

There was the faintest rustle, no more warning than that, and the
bandit was struck between the shoulderblades by the reversed blunt edge
of Kenshin's blade. He went flying into a tree with the impact and
crumpled to the ground, lifting his head to look up at Kenshin where he
stood, his hair whipped by the breeze and his eyes like slits of blue ice.
"Heh. Wondered when you'd get here, battousai."
Kenshin did not answer. He waited, the blade in his hands
gleaming, waiting for the bandit to make the next move. The bandit got to
his feet and pulled apart the wooden sword, revealing a steel blade
hidden inside. "Not very talkative, are you? Suits me fine. Let's fight."
"Fine," Kenshin said simply, his voice low and cold. He vanished.
The bandit turned and managed to block the stroke aimed at him,
just barely. It was obvious to Kurama that the only reason that he was
able to keep up with Kenshin at all was because Kenshin was still slowed
by the half-healed wounds in his shoulder and leg. Kenshin dodged the
return thrust with ease and whirled his sword around, smashing it against
his opponent's leg. The bandit crashed into the leaves, scrabbling at
them for his sword which had fallen from his hand. He clenched his hand
into a fist in the leaves, starting to push himself up, as Kenshin said
from behind him, "Get out of here."
"Not a chance. I haven't lost yet," the bandit said, and reached
for his sword with his left hand, jerking his right hand ever so
slightly.
Kurama sensed the trees behind Kenshin, something scraping
against bark and -
He yelped a warning, but too late. As the weights dropped over
the tree branches, ropes attached to them flung themselves up from where
they were buried in the leaves, snapping against Kenshin's body and
slamming him into a tree. The coils of rope instantly pulled tight, and
Kenshin fought his hand free to yank one of the bonds away from his
throat, fighting the counterweight with all the strength in his bad arm.
His hand trembled. Kenshin tried to move his other arm, just enough to
make the sword cut through the rope, but the ropes were so tight that he
couldn't move. His eyes burned as he watched the bandit approach.
"This time I won't get cheated out of my reward! Die,
battousai--" and he raised his blade.
Kenshin let go of the rope around his neck, holding his breath as
it snapped tight. His hand grabbed the bandit's blade and twisted,
tearing it from the man's grip and sending it slicing straight through
the ropes that bound him to the tree. Kenshin lunged forward past the
startled bandit and swung his blade again as he passed, this time aiming
for the back of the bandit's neck. There was a crunch. The bandit fell
again, and this time he did not get up.
Kenshin limped to Kurama and fell to his knees, reaching out to
touch the blood-spattered silver fur. "I'm sorry I didn't get here
sooner," he apologized, a detached part of himself switching absently
back to his usual formal speech instead of the harsh words he had used
seconds before. Kurama blinked his visible golden eye and panted in short
breaths. Kenshin took hold of the trap and forced the jaws open as
carefully as he could, wincing as his shoulder throbbed with the effort.
He jammed the teeth of the trap open with a rock and then removed
Kurama's broken leg as carefully as he could. Kurama gave a soft whimper
but made no other complaint.
Kenshin found a straight branch to serve as a splint easily
enough, but there was nothing around he could tie it with. He thought and
then reached up and untied the strip of cloth that kept his hair tied
back, letting it fall free around his shoulders as he tore the scrap of
cloth in half with his teeth and then used it to tie the branch to
Kurama's leg. Then he gathered the fox into his arms and walked off
through the forest, leaving the bandit where he had fallen, uncaring that
in a few hours the man would probably wake and find his way back to
wherever he'd come from, as obsessed with Kenshin's death as ever.

Kaoru paused in her sweeping and turned to look as the gate opened.
"I'm home," Kenshin said softly, his hair flowing loose around
him like a halo of fire in the sunset light, a mass of bloodstained
silver fur in his arms.
Kaoru dropped the broom.

Kenshin sat leaning against the doorframe, his sword propped
against his shoulder in his usual pose. Sanosuke noted, however, that the
sakabatou was resting against Kenshin's right shoulder, not his left. He
rested his arm on his right knee, his red hair falling to hide his eyes
from view. Sanosuke knew better than to think he was asleep.
He watched as Kenshin heard the slight sound of Kaoru's sandals
on the wood of the hall behind him, watched Kenshin tense automatically
before Kaoru spoke and he identified the noise as safe. He looked up at
Kaoru and smiled innocently at her, assuring her that he was fine.
Sanosuke studied the scrap of paper he held, one of those leaflets they
tossed around town to distribute the news, and came to the conclusion
that Kenshin didn't know Sanosuke was watching him.
This was definitely bad.
"Megumi-san says that your fox friend will be fine," Kaoru
reported, resting a hand on the doorframe. She clearly hadn't noticed
Kenshin's brief tension before he'd covered it up. "Where did you find
him, anyway?"
"In a trap," Kenshin said.
"You're so soft-hearted, Kenshin," Kaoru said with a sigh.
Sanosuke thought. He tried to
think of how to get rid of her. "Does Megumi need any more help?"
"No, but the fox won't be going anywhere for a while, so I think
I'll make up somewhere for him to sleep," Kaoru said, standing. "I hope
he doesn't try to run away, though..."
"He won't," Kenshin said with a smile.
Kaoru looked at him curiously, then considered. "Well, if he's
going to stay, we should give him a name, don't you think?"
"Kurama," Kenshin said.
"You mean like the mountain? That's sort of a funny name!"
"I like it," Kenshin said with a slight shrug. "Don't you?"
"If you're going to go naming foxes after mountains you might as
well use Hiei, that's closer," Kaoru groused good-naturedly. Just as
Sanosuke was about to burst from impatience, Kaoru excused herself and
headed out toward the storage shed. Sanosuke put down the leaflet.
"Says here the police are investigating some kind of vandalism to
Kinoru's house," he said.
"The merchant?" Kenshin asked without much interest.
"You mean the fat, corrupt old bastard. About time somebody
decided to put him in his place. Wonder how they did it, though. Says
here they got plants into the sewers and ivy into the walls."
Kenshin looked up, his gaze sharp with sudden interest. Then he
glanced down at the leaflet, taking his eyes off Sanosuke briefly.
Sanosuke got up, drawing Kenshin's attention again instantly. Sanosuke
was sure from watching Kenshin that he was hovering between the two sides
of his personality, usually so carefully divided. That meant that he was
too tired, knew it, and was fighting to keep his ingrained
battle-reactions from taking over to compensate.
That was dangerous as hell, for all of them.
"Hey, Kenshin. I don't think I can stomach Kaoru's cooking
tonight. What say we go to the Akabeko." Sanosuke leaned down and
clapped a friendly hand on the shoulder that didn't have a sword propped
against it, and Kenshin winced at the impact. Sanosuke immediately took
advantage of the opening and yanked open Kenshin's shirt, pulling it away
from his shoulder to reveal bandages wrapped around it. Kenshin looked at
him with an icy, killing gaze, and Sanosuke felt Kenshin's muscles tense
as he made a slight movement to unsheath his blade.
"Thought so," Sanosuke said.
Kenshin remained ominously silent for a long moment, then
shrugged out of Sanosuke's grip and said in a low voice, "Don't tell
Kaoru-dono."
"No problem. But you need to get some sleep before you end up
killing somebody," Sanosuke said. Kenshin looked at him, actually
startled, then he lowered his head again.
"I won't."
"Hell, you just about drew your sword two seconds ago. Who are
you trying to fool?" Sanosuke put his other hand on Kenshin's right
shoulder and stared into his eyes. He couldn't quite figure out what it
was he was seeing there, the reason for Kenshin's reluctance. Fear?
"Come on, Kenshin. There's only so far you can push yourself and
you've reached your limit."
The blue eyes simply met his without giving any indication that
Kenshin had heard. Why wouldn't Kenshin listen to him? Sanosuke had never
thought that his job of protecting Kaoru might extend to protecting her
from Kenshin. Not that Sanosuke really thought that Kenshin would hurt
Kaoru... physically...

Kenshin could tell what was going through Sanosuke's mind as
easily as if he'd been shouting his thoughts aloud, reading the brown
eyes that bored into his own. Torn, worried, trapped between betraying
the tentative, fragile friendship that existed between them and letting
what he *knew* was a dangerous situation fray any further.
Sanosuke was thinking.
Kenshin waited for him to make the inevitable choice.
If he had been in Sanosuke's place, he was ashamed to know that
he would not have hesitated an instant.

Sanosuke suddenly realized what Kenshin was waiting for, the
reason why those blue eyes did not waver from his face. He knew exactly
what Sanosuke had been planning - he was just waiting for him to go
through with it. Sanosuke
thought, looking at the almost delicate features in front of him. Out of
the precious few friends he had now, Kenshin was the one who he valued
the most, the friendship that was the hardest to keep without pride or
rivalry interfering. He didn't understand why Kenshin couldn't just
surrender to his need for rest without laying the responsibility elsewhere.
Unless that was precisely the point.
Sanosuke knew that all of Kenshin's instincts were trained for
fighting. And what warrior could rest if he was still under threat?
The question was, threat from where?
Sanosuke stopped himself short. There was no time to second-guess
now. Kaoru would be coming back and Sanosuke didn't think she'd
understand what he was about to do.
"Sorry, Kenshin," he muttered, pressing his fingers into the
sides of Kenshin's neck, hard.
Kenshin's mouth opened slightly but no sound came out. His eyes
closed as his muscles went rigid for a long second and then relaxed.
Sanosuke caught him as he slumped forward and shifted his hold until he
could stand, holding Kenshin in his arms.
Before Kaoru could come back and he'd have to explain that
Kenshin was exhausted while still dodging the reason why, Sanosuke
carried Kenshin to his own room and put him down on the futon, taking the
sword as he left.

Kurama hobbled awkwardly on three legs to the door he wanted,
pushing it open with his nose until he'd made a space wide enough for him
to slither through. He made his clumsy way across the floor until he
managed to climb up onto the futon and curl up in a ball against the
warm, sleeping body, careful of his splinted leg.

"Megumi-san! Where did Kurama go?" Kaoru asked, hurriedly opening
doors and checking rooms. "Oh, Kenshin said he wouldn't run away--"
She stopped herself as she opened another door and softly stepped
into the dark room.
Kenshin lay on his side, hair streaming loose over the futon, the
fox curled up against his chest. Kurama stirred as Kaoru entered,
blinking golden eyes at her before he yawned and tucked his nose back
under his tail, going back to sleep.
Kaoru quietly padded across the floor, noticing that the fox did
not wake and look at her again, remarkably calm for a wild creature. She
sank to her knees and reached out tentatively to touch Kenshin's long red
hair. He did not stir as she brushed her fingers across the silky
strands. She bit her lip and then, scarcely believing what she was doing,
she tilted Kenshin's face up and kissed him.
She drew away after only a moment, astonished at the audacity of
what she'd just done. Kenshin remained still, breathing softly as he
slept. Kaoru hurriedly got to her feet and tiptoed quickly out the door,
sliding it shut behind her.
Kurama opened his eyes and turned his head to look after her.

Days passed.

The wind blew showers of red leaves from the branches of the
dwarf maple trees, tossing them playfully as it whistled through the
crowded street. Kenshin wandered between the buildings with Ayame-chan
and Suzume-chan in tow and Kurama draped over his neck like a scarf.
Kurama's gold eyes were bright with interest as he looked around at the
humans scurrying around in the cold fall weather.
They were being watched, of course. They both knew this.

Days passed.

Kenshin stood on the bank of the river far upstream of the city
limits, practicing swift sword strokes as Kurama kept watch. Kenshin
finally lowered the sword in satisfaction. Hardly a twinge. And there was
barely a scar to mark that he had been hurt at all.
He looked down as Kurama's fur bristled. "They're watching
again?" he asked rhetorically, softly. "I wonder when they'll get tired
of skulking in the shadows..."

Days passed.

Kurama lay on a cushion, looking so regal that Kenshin couldn't
resist tugging on his tail to tease him. Kurama sniffed in mock affront
and flicked his tail out of reach before returning his full attention to
the fish that Kaoru had given him. Kenshin smiled and took another sip of
his tea, holding the cup so that the most possible warmth leached into
his chilled fingers. A sudden cold snap had made the weather even more
bitter than before, and even Sanosuke was wearing an extra layer. He was
in the process of showing off that he had just as great a capacity for
tea as he did for sake. Kenshin was using his tea mostly to warm his
hands, but it felt good to drink the hot liquid and feel its warmth trail
down his throat.
He took another drink and looked over at Kaoru, who looked the
most comfortable of all of them, having one of her thick, many-layered
kimonos on. Kenshin, who had quite literally shown up on her doorstep
with nothing but the clothes he was wearing, had resorted to borrowing a
castoff shirt from the storage shed and was wearing it underneath his
usual red shirt to keep warm. He noticed that Kaoru was looking at him
oddly and wondered why, even as she flushed and hastily went to get some
more tea. She'd been doing that a lot lately, watching him when she
didn't think he was looking...
Kenshin had given her an edited version of what was going on. She
had already known he had enemies, so it wasn't too hard for her to
believe that a number of them had shown up and he'd decided it would be
best to lurk out of the general vicinity of the dojo in order to try and
keep their attention off it. Supposedly, when he'd heard that the ploy
hadn't worked, he'd returned, rescuing Kurama on the way. She knew
nothing of just how many enemies there were, or that he'd gotten hurt.
She had such faith in his abilities that the idea hadn't occurred to her.
Or had it? Was that why she kept looking at him so strangely?
That was the only explanation for her behavior that Kenshin could think
of. Now what was he going to do if she decided he'd been lying to her?
Well, he'd have to worry about that if it happened.
Yahiko had already fallen asleep, curled up like a kitten on a
pillow. He'd been complaining earlier about how Kaoru had run him ragged
with practicing that day, and he'd barely finished dinner and his tea
before falling asleep. Kaoru had just smiled indulgently and let him
sleep where he was, since their conversation didn't seem to have a chance
of waking him up. She'd been delighted when Kurama accepted fish from her
hand and let her pet him, wondering at how tame the silver fox was.
Kenshin smiled inwardly as he thought of how Kurama was surely
appreciating all the pampering.
"Oh, I'm--so tired," Kaoru yawned, covering her mouth. "I must be
in worse shape than I thought, if I'm this tired after training Yahiko--"
She broke off with another yawn.
Sanosuke fell sideways and landed on the floor with a thud,
snoring blissfully. Kenshin stood up, alarmed, and the teacup fell out of
his suddenly clumsy fingers and shattered on the floor. Kaoru looked
fuzzily at him. Than *she* was getting fuzzy. Kenshin shook his head
sharply and staggered back against the doorframe, clutching it to keep
himself upright as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Kaoru mumbled
"Kenshin?" in a confused tone before she collapsed.
Kenshin's vision faded into a wash of gray. "Kurama," he managed
to get out. "Kaoru-dono... protect..."
His grip on the doorframe fell slack and he crumpled to the floor.

Kurama limped hurriedly across the floor to where Kenshin lay
sprawled on the floor like a broken puppet. He poked Kenshin's cheek with
his nose and pawed at his hair, but got no reaction. He listened
carefully to the beating of Kenshin's heart and was satisfied that he was
only unconscious and not in any real danger. He made sure of the others
as well and then limped back to the center of the room.
They would be coming soon, Kurama was certain, and they would be
expecting no resistance. Kurama let his senses extend into the garden,
looking for something useful so that he wouldn't have to create plants
himself. He needed to conserve all the energy he could in case there was
more than one attempt, and if he drained himself too badly it would
impair the healing of his broken leg. He would have to use only what
power he could muster in this weaker form - attempting to change bodies
with a half-knitted bone was *not* something Kurama wanted to try.
Dwarf maple and cherry trees - mostly useless, too immovable. A
small patch of bamboo - that held possibilities, but it was too far away.
Just outside, though - something unfamiliar. Something like a bush, that
would flower in summer but now was dormant. The stems had ragged leaves
and thorns on every side. Roses, Kurama remembered, he'd seen them on an
earlier visit to this world. They would do nicely.
At his urging the rosebushes grew at incredible speed, weaving an
almost solid wall across the doors, and extending to cover the walls of
the room as well. The thorns grew longer and sharper. Soon the barrier
was complete and Kurama waited for the inevitable attempt to breach it.
He did not have to wait long.
Whispers warned him before blades cut into the vines. Kurama
struck where he sensed the damage, not even needing to see to send the
vines spearing outwards and straight through flesh. There was a gurgling
scream and curses as the attackers drew back. Hissed orders, and then
sudden firelight.
Kurama made the rosebush attack, but this time he was
hampered by his lack of sight. The plants could only attack aimlessly,
and he couldn't get outside himself. The vines burned and fell as they
crumpled into ash. Sword blades drove through the paper wall and tore it
to shreds. Kurama dove for cover and hid underneath his cushion, trying
desperately to formulate a new plan.
The men looked around the room lit by their torches. When they
saw nothing, they moved cautiously inside. Kurama needed something that
would take them all out in one stroke, something that could cut across an
entire circle without effort. A sword didn't have the reach...
An idea came to him, but he needed to be in something more like
human shape. Kurama steeled himself. This was going to *hurt*...
He gathered all the power he could muster and forced his body
back into its youko shape, stifling a scream as his foreleg/arm exploded
into an inferno of pain far worse than when it had been broken. He raised
his other hand, conjuring a rose in full bloom in it as the men whirled
to look at him, eyes wide as he appeared (to them) out of nowhere. He
made the rose stretch and reform in his hand, finally letting his pain
find voice in a hoarse scream, bringing the improvised weapon down in an
arc which swept through the ranks of men as if they were no more solid
than the breeze. He finished a whirl that sent the whip cutting through
the rest of his opponents, and didn't wait to watch them hit the ground
before collapsing back into fox form, whimpering as his abused leg sent
spikes of pain stabbing through him. The whip fell to the floor next to
him as a red rose again, its velvet petals red as the blood which pooled
on the floor.
Kurama thought irrelevantly, dragging himself across the floor.
The hole in the wall let the cold night air into the room and he was
shivering. He nestled himself underneath Kenshin's arm and curled up,
watching the night intently for any sign of another attack to come, even
though if one did, there was nothing he would be able to do about it anymore.

"Kenshin! Kenshin!" Someone was shaking him. "Kenshin, wake up!"
A rough tongue licked his cheek. Kenshin tried to match the
tongue with the voice and wasn't getting very far when he managed to pry
his eyes open. "Kaoru-dono?" he tried to ask, but it came out as
something far less coherent, and he was still trying to figure out why
she'd licked him.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked hopefully. Her face finally came into
focus. Kenshin blinked and realized that Kurama was pawing at his hair.
Now the lick made more sense. But Kaoru looked as though she was managing
to keep herself from screaming only through a massive effort of will.
Kenshin tried to get up, but his muscles didn't want to obey him. Finally
he pushed himself up and looked around the room, eyes wide.
There were at least twenty bodies littered across the room, lying
in pools of blood. Kenshin stiffened at the familiar reek of death that
filled the room as the breeze shifted, blowing in through the hole in the
wall.
"Kenshin, you - you didn't..." Kaoru started, her voice filled
with quiet horror.
Kenshin picked up Kurama, looking down at the stains on the
silver fur, stains of their enemies' blood. "No," he said, not needing a
sign from Kurama to confirm the answer in his own mind.
Kenshin looked up at Kaoru, reading relief and still-present fear
and... something he didn't recognize... in her eyes. "I think I'd better
explain a few things," he said.

10.

They took it fairly well, considering.
"NANI?!?!?!?" Yahiko and Sano both yelled, their heads snapping
around to stare at Kurama curled up on his pillow. "A youko?!"
Kurama snorted in amusement. Kenshin smiled and continued. "He's
been helping me watch over you. Remember the cherry petals?" Kenshin had
apparently heard the story from Kaoru and Kurama had simply acknowledged
his part in it when Kenshin had asked him.
"That was you?" Kaoru asked breathlessly, speaking directly to
Kurama. She seemed to be having the least trouble with the idea. Yahiko
still looked somewhat stunned.
Kurama nodded in response, and Kaoru flushed and looked away.
Kurama would have grinned if he'd been able in this form, knowing what
was going through her mind, although Kenshin was probably puzzled. She'd
undoubtedly figured out that Kurama was perfectly aware of her stolen
kiss.
Kurama noticed that Kenshin was still sticking to his story, more
or less. But now that their enemy had attacked their home ground twice,
Kurama doubted that Kenshin would hesitate much longer to take the fight
to them. The problem was that he would need Kurama's help, but Kurama was
still in no shape to fight and knew it, especially after he'd shifted
forms despite his half-healed leg. And now he'd drained all his energy
warding off the last attack. He would just have to hope that Kenshin
didn't decide to go off and fight on his own.

Kenshin slipped out of the dojo, his sandaled feet making no
sound on the rough ground of the street. Moonlight flooded the city and
made the puffs of steam from his breath glow silver in the frigid air. He
moved a few feet farther and then stopped short.
Shining like liquid starlight, Kurama stood in the street in
front of him, his small fox body looking up at Kenshin with an
unmistakable command in those golden eyes.
Kenshin matched gazes with Kurama for a long moment. Then, very
deliberately, Kurama sat back on his haunches, tail waving behind him,
and used his bad paw to write in the dirt in front of him, a few clear
hiragana.
*Not yet.*
Kenshin waited, still, trying to curb his impatience. He wasn't
eager for a fight, but he knew that the best time to strike was now,
before the enemy had a chance to marshal its resources again after the
last battle. These people were a threat to the closest thing he had to a
family, and he wanted to make sure that they did not harm anyone he cared
about. He wouldn't let that happen again.
Kurama watched him with those eyes, old beyond a human's
imagining. :I know,: his deep, soft voice said suddenly, and Kenshin
started. :I don't care for waiting either. But you need me.:
Kenshin finally looked away. He could accept Kurama's logic. He
turned and walked back toward the dojo. "I didn't know you could talk in
that form," he said to change the subject.
Kurama sounded oddly troubled. :Usually... I can't. It depends on
who I'm trying to talk to. Humans, normally, can't hear...: It was said
in a questioning tone, a question that Kenshin didn't want to answer. It
cut a little too close to old memories. Kenshin didn't want to think
about them, not right now. He resolutely ignored Kurama's looks and
curled up on the futon again, forcing his tense and rebellious body to sleep.

"Battousai," a voice said out of the shadows, and Kenshin tensed
even more and turned to look, but again, there was no one there.
"Kenshin?" Sano asked curiously, turning to look after noticing
that Kenshin was no longer following.
"N-nothing, Sano. Let's go." Kenshin adjusted the string bag on
his shoulder and started forward again. This had been going on for days,
the whispers and subtle hints, letting him know that he was being
followed constantly. It was enough to keep him on a razor's edge of
nerves, which he knew was precisely the point, but he couldn't stop his
ingrained reactions. He continually expected an attack which never came.
It was beginning to take its toll by this point; he could hardly make
himself sleep, and he'd given up on trying to make his knotted muscles
relax.
Sano frowned at him. He wasn't stupid and Kenshin could tell that
Sano knew that Kenshin wasn't telling him something. Kenshin hoped
Kurama's leg would heal soon, because he wasn't sure how much more of
this harassment he'd be able to put up with before he was goaded into
taking the offensive. Whoever was behind this knew him better than he'd
thought. Walking the edge like this between Rurouni and Battousai was
driving him insane.
They walked through the gate and were greeted by the sight of
Yahiko chasing Kurama all around the yard, the fox keeping easily ahead
of the boy. He was practically radiating smugness as he jumped up onto
the stairs and waited for Yahiko to lean against the pillar and pant for
breath. "It's not fair," he gasped.
"What's going on?" Sano asked as he led the way into the yard.
Yahiko looked at them and said between breaths, "Kaoru's a demon!
She said it's all part of training to make me faster, so unless I could
catch Kurama, she wouldn't let me have any dinner!"
Kurama flicked his tail proudly and arched his neck so that the
light caught his silver fur, his jaws opening in a lupine grin. Kenshin
smiled despite himself.
"Well, Kaoru might have a point," Sano said, and unexpectedly
lunged at the fox, trying to grab him by the scruff of the neck. Although
he was faster than Yahiko, Kurama easily avoided the grab, and Sano ended
up sprawled on the stairs. Yahiko burst out laughing, but he stopped and
stared in astonishment as Kenshin caught up Kurama and held the fox in
his arms, using his full speed to cross the huge gap of space between
them in instants.
Even Kurama was surprised, enough so that he didn't wriggle. He
turned to look at Kenshin and blinked golden eyes at him. :Keep that up
and you'll have to tell them what's wrong,: the fox said seriously. :Even
Yahiko's starting to notice that you're not your usual self.:
Kenshin forced himself to look at Yahiko and smile. "Kaoru-dono's
expectations might be just a little high. If you help me make dinner I'm
sure I can talk her into letting you have some."
Since Yahiko generally tried to avoid all chores like the plague,
which included making dinner, he just sighed and agreed. Kenshin bent
down to release Kurama, and something flew past his shoulder, close
enough to cut the string bag open. Vegetables fell from the ruined bag
and scattered on the ground as Kenshin whirled and drew his sword in one
movement, knocking away the next missile that flew through the air. He
knew immediately that this one hadn't been aimed at him, and adjusted his
stance accordingly without having to think about it. But no more tiny
daggers came, and the branches of one of the trees along the wall
rustled. Kenshin started forward, rage boiling up in him, but something
grabbed the leg of his hakama and pulled. Kenshin looked down angrily.
:That way lies madness,: Kurama said infuriatingly. :Don't let
them goad you into fighting on their terms.: Slowly and deliberately he
released his teeth from the white fabric.
Kenshin's hand tightened on his sword, but he made himself put it
away and start back toward the house, kneeling to pick up the fallen
vegetables. Sano came closer and Kenshin looked up at him. Sanosuke
actually recoiled from Kenshin's gaze, and Kenshin knew he should feel
guilty if not frightened at how much his self-control had eroded, but he
couldn't get past his anger yet.
Without a word, he stood up and walked through the open door into
the dojo.

11.

It was snowing.
The silver bits of ice glittered as they fell to the earth,
sparkling in the flickering light of lamps and candles that shone through
the windows of Kinoru's huge house. Two shadows stood several roofs away
and studied the mansion, watching the movements of people inside and
around it.
Silver and red, the two shadows suddenly vanished from the roof
with no more than a whisper of sound, slipping through the dark,
snow-choked streets.

Murakawa stopped at an open door. He
reached for the knob, aware that his master would be angry if the house
became too cold from drafts.
A hand grabbed his arm and yanked him outside.
Too startled even to squawk, he found himself suddenly confronted
by red and silver demons with shining blue and golden eyes. "Hello," the
red one said politely, snowflakes and silver frost collecting on his
hair. "We're looking for Kinoru. I'm afraid it's a very urgent matter and
we don't have time to make an appointment. Is he in?"
Murakawa glanced at the other shape. His eyes widened as he saw
the ears and tail. All discretion failed, and he informed the demons that
his master was in his study and would surely find time to meet with such
important people and could they perhaps let him go as he had duties to
perform?
The red-haired demon released him without a word and the two
vanished inside. Murakawa stood outside in the snow for a good five
minutes, trying to decide whether service to Kinoru was more important
than fleeing right there and then.
Finally he decided that considering that he doubted very much
that he would have a master within the next hour, a strategic retreat
seemed the best option. And he promptly ran away into the night.

Kurama had no compunctions about killing under ordinary
circumstances, but on this occasion he was attempting to abstain for
Kenshin's sake. Rampaging through Kinoru's house would get the samurai
into enough trouble without adding a list of dead to the tally. It hadn't
taken long for their presence to be discovered, and Kinoru had responded
by throwing his hired goons at them again, probably trying to slow them
down while he escaped.
Neither of them intended to let him get away.
Kenshin's sword was a burning arc of reflected firelight as he
struck men down, sending them sprawling to the floor without even
breaking stride. Kurama dodged clumsy human blows as easily as if he were
only a wraith of smoke, and by the time they turned to pursue, he and
Kenshin were gone. The two of them never got in each other's way or
tripped over the other's fallen foes. Kurama glanced at Kenshin's intent
face and was momentarily surprised by how well they worked together - it
was almost as if they had been doing this for years, or were linked...
But Kenshin was human -
A memory hit him so hard that he actually fell out of rhythm for
a moment, stumbling in the empty hallway.
Kenshin noticed. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Kinoru is in there," Kurama said, pointing to the door
where the fat man's scent led, strong with fear. He suddenly couldn't
remember the flash that had disturbed him. Something about Kenshin
seeming familiar...
But surely he would have remembered meeting someone like this
before. How many red-haired, scarred samurai could there be, especially
ones with eyes that burned like blue fire?
There was no time to worry about it. Kurama flicked a rose into
the whip again and cut the door to pieces, and they charged inside to
confront Kinoru.

Kenshin stood inside the ruined doorframe, hands clenched into
fists at his sides, shoulders heaving as he breathed heavily from the
run. His glinting eyes rested on the man who blocked their path, sword
raised.
"Takeshi, get them!" Kinoru shrieked from where he hid behind his desk.
"Ooh," Kurama said, golden eyes narrowed dangerously. "I want him."
"Wait," Kenshin said, blocking him with an arm. Something was
different about the man who faced them now. Takeshi's smug smile was the
same as ever, but his stance practically oozed confidence. Kenshin knew
that Kurama could tell the difference too. Takeshi suddenly seemed dangerous.
"Too frightened to take me on, Battousai?" Takeshi sneered.
"Only a fool charges into battle without first taking the measure
of his enemy," Kenshin replied, resting his hand on his sword hilt.
"How true. Which is why I had to resort to traps before. I think
you'll find that I'm not so easy to humiliate this time," Takeshi said
with a manic grin.
"You're forgetting something important, I think," Kurama noted
coolly. "There are two of us, and only one of you - and neither of us is
hurt this time."
A hail of bamboo erupted like spears from the floor around
Takeshi, stabbing toward him like enormous spikes. Takeshi whirled his
sword in a shining arc and the bamboo fell into burning pieces, igniting
the sanded wood of the floor.
"What?" Kurama gasped in surprise as Kenshin stared. Takeshi
stood unhurt in the middle of the flames, grinning. Then he vanished.
Kenshin sensed him and drew his sword to block just in time, but
when the two blades struck a fireball erupted and he had to shield his
face from the flames. Something shoved him backwards and he fell to the
floor, looking up at a burning plant that had unfolded in front of him
like a shield. Kurama attacked Takeshi with a snarl, brandishing a blade
of a razor-sharp leaf. He kept Takeshi on the defensive for a few
moments, but then he was blinded by another burst of flame and he was cut
before he managed to get away, a shallow slice dripping blood onto his
white robes.
Kenshin flung himself at Takeshi as Kurama dropped back, trying
to attack from all sides and stay out of range of the fire. Takeshi
couldn't seem to conjure it at any distance farther than his sword, but
that was range enough. Kenshin got in a solid blow to Takeshi's ribs, but
his sleeve caught fire and he had to drop back. Kurama was there to take
his place, and this time he'd switched to the whip, ensuring that he had
a longer range than Takeshi did. As Kenshin beat out the flames on his
sleeve, Kurama danced around their enemy and flicked the whip at him in a
blur of movement, tearing the clothes and flesh on his arms, his legs.
Furious, Takeshi lashed out at him with the sword, but Kurama dodged and
kept on attacking.
Most of the room was burning now, they wouldn't be able to stay
in here much longer. Kenshin's eyes were watering from the smoke, but he
saw that there was no longer a bulky form hidden behind the desk.
"Kurama!" he called hoarsely. "Kinoru got away!"
"Idiot, we only wanted your boss!" Kurama growled, sending the
whip tearing across Takeshi's face. But now the whip was burning too, and
Kurama had to throw it away and get out of reach so he could create a new
one.
Kenshin looked around for the door, coughing from the smoke. It
was still there, but they would have to go through fire to get to it.
"Kurama--"
Kurama wasn't having the easiest time breathing either. He
covered his face with his hand as Takeshi laughed at them, ignoring his
wounds. "Getting too hot for you? I'm not having any problems!"
Kenshin thought. He raised his sword. They had to
end this now, or Takeshi would simply pursue them until not only this
house was threatened, but the others near it as well.
Kurama's golden eyes met his. As if he had heard Kenshin's
thoughts, his pale hand tightened on the whip.
They needed no words to move; they simply burst into motion,
perfectly matched as if they had fought together a thousand times before.
Takeshi tried to block both of them and failed. Kurama's whip parted
under the edge of his blade, but Kenshin rammed into him with enough
force to send them both flying through the half-burned and weakened
boards of the wall and out into the frozen night.
They were on the second floor, but Kenshin twisted and landed
easily in the snow, sending drifts scattering cold and wet across the
ground. Takeshi hadn't landed quite so well, but he got up again and
staggered unsteadily.
Then he jerked, his eyes glazing over as he looked down at the
rose protruding from his chest. The rose exploded into growth until his
body had been pierced a thousand times by the thorny branches.
Kurama appeared in front of Kenshin, gazing impassively as
Takeshi's corpse slowly fell backwards into the snow. "I don't think
you'll be blamed for this one."
Kenshin didn't reply. He looked back at the house, smoke
streaming from the hole into the wall. "Kinoru got away," he said.
Kurama shook his head. "I can still smell him. You think he can
run fast, with that stomach? Come on!" He gestured and Kenshin ran after
him, leaving Takeshi's body behind. The roses slowly opened into full
bloom, silken petals stained the same red as the snow beneath them.

After Takeshi, Kinoru had apparently run out of lackeys. He
cowered against a wall, begging for his life, as Kurama looked down at
him in unmitigated disgust.
"Worm," Kurama growled. "Not so tough when you don't have an army
to order around, are you?"
Kenshin stepped forward. "Understand this," he said. "I want to
be left alone. That's all. Hurt those under my protection, strike again
at my friends--" His eyes narrowed into slits of blue fire. "I won't give
you a third chance."
"And if he *doesn't* finish you, you'll wish he had when I catch
you," Kurama said, putting all the malice he could into a youko's feral
smile. Kinoru immediately babbled agreement, and crawled frantically
away. The two of them let him go.
Kenshin looked at the burning house. Shouts echoed through the
night as the fire-fighters were summoned. Dark shapes boiled from the
windows and doors as Kinoru's servants fled the building. The clouds tore
wide overhead, spilling moonlight in the garden. The snow crunched softly
under Kenshin's feet as he turned away.
There was a rustling, and a silver, four-tailed fox bolted past
him, paws silent on the snow. Kurama stopped in a patch of moonlight and
looked back, golden eyes gleaming.
:I think my time in the Human World is at an end, for now,: the
youko's voice said in Kenshin's mind. :Enjoy your peace, Kenshin. Perhaps
we'll meet again someday.:
Kenshin smiled slightly. "Perhaps," he answered.
:Farewell,: the silver fox sent, and then whirled, vanishing into
the empty streets in a quick blur of silver. Kenshin slipped through a
gap between buildings and walked towards the dojo, the full moon
brightening the snowdrifts until they almost glowed around him.
Attached to the gate of the dojo was a single red rose, blooming
perfectly against the ice.
Kenshin smiled, took the blossom where it had been frozen to the
wood, and pushed the gate open to warm light spilling across the yard
from the windows and the sound of voices drifting through the walls.
Joyous exclamations greeted his arrival.
Kenshin smiled and held out the rose to Kaoru, who blushed furiously.
"I'm home."

--End of Brothers in Arms: Part I--

Author's Notes: Well, that was silly. If I'd known Part I was going to be
finished so quickly, I would have done it a long time ago. Ah, well.
Apologies to all those who were inconvenienced by my simply extending
chapter 11 rather than making a new chapter, but a half a page was a
little short, and it didn't flow properly on its own anyway. :P And
another fic gets finished! Woo-hoo!! (Well, the
first half, anyway... :P)

Source: geocities.com/tokyo/pagoda/7767/sionna

( geocities.com/tokyo/pagoda/7767) ( geocities.com/tokyo/pagoda) ( geocities.com/tokyo)