Rurouni Kenshin
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Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin:
Table: table-1


Title: .031 Knife
Characters: Kenshin/Kaoru/Sano/Aoshi/Misa/Megumi/Hiko
Prompt: .031 Knife
Word Count: 18426
Rating: PG-13
Summary: An unexpected Betrayal starts a change of events that Kaoru can only guess at. Undercurrents are hard to follow without a map.
Author's Notes: Mob Drabble!







Sano was like a puppy that had his favorite bone stolen. Which was amusing, because Kaoru had always carried the mental image of Sano’s inner animal being a rooster, not some kicked fuzzy, fat puppy with big eyes. Regardless of her own inner amusement, Sano was not amused. He only left the place when Kenshin did and Kaoru was quite certain that he was bribing a neighbor for a phone call because he walked in the door no later than ten minute after Kenshin. A lot could happen in ten minutes, but Kaoru refused to touch a man who smelled like blood or another woman, and Kenshin could only shower so fast. The furthest she had gotten was a warm hug or interesting brush of his fingers before Sano was bursting through the door like an avenging angel.

Kaoru was starting to get a little pissed.

There was only so much sexual tension that a girl was supposed to put up with before she took matters into her own hands. Unfortunately, Sano seemed to sense her growing hostility and was sleeping on the couch so that she couldn’t lock him in his room. The fact that Kenshin seemed to be equally as frustrated did wonders for her temper. While she had decided that giving Sano time, it did not mean that working herself into exhaustion every day so she didn’t have the energy to wring his neck was going to last very long. He was her best friend but she really wanted him to go away.

Kenshin had been gone for close to forty eight hours and she was bored.

She supposed she should have known better. It couldn’t have been half an hour past when she had flopped onto the couch in sheer frustration when Sano came in with a small woman cradled in his long arms, blood dripping off both of them so that she just knew she was going to have rip the carpet up and replace it. The fact that he took the girl straight to her bed surprised her but she didn’t argue, pelting after him to strip the bed down to her bottom sheet. “What happened?”

“Fucking sold out,” Sano managed to grit out. “I can’t get the bleeding to stop. I have to call Meg, you take over.” Kaoru found herself holding field bandages down with her hands as Sano wiped his bloody hands as well as he could on his own shirt before leaving the room, cell phone clutched tightly in his knuckles.

Kaoru attempted to figure out what had caused the bleeding and failed. From her position it was impossible to tell if the girl had taken a bullet or just been knifed. She could understand why Sano hadn’t been able to take her to the hospital but Kaoru hoped they could get her somewhere for medical care because she didn’t think the small woman could afford to do much more bleeding. Sano was covered in blood and so was the woman.

Sano came back in, his features grim. “Megumi will be here in five, faster if Shinomori is driving,” he said through clenched teeth. “Dammit!”

“Who is she?” Kaoru asked, not moving her hands from where they were applying pressure.

“She is an undercover agent. I wasn’t even supposed to be near her assignment, damn lucky I was.” Sano said, running his sticky hands through his hair. “I’m not even sure what went wrong, just that she was running down the street and bleeding everywhere.”

Kaoru nodded and considered the small boned, almost pixie features of the woman lying on the bed. She didn’t know what to say to Sano to make him feel better so she didn’t try. Either the girl got medical attention and lived or she didn’t.

The sound of the front door slamming open caught her attention, along with footsteps running down the hall. Kaoru looked up to see a woman, her hair caught back away from her face run in. She was tall and slender but there was something about the set of her mouth…

“I have it from here,” the woman Kaoru had to assume was Meg said flatly. “Good job, go wash up, Sano get over here and do something useful.”

Kaoru didn’t particularly argue as she was shooed from the room. She almost crashed into a tall man with eyes as cold as winter skies, his face set in smooth lines that somehow managed to convey more emotion than even Sano’s. Kaoru stepped by him and decided to stay out of everyone’s way. She didn’t have any training besides basic CPR and really hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary.

“Move lady!”

Kaoru jerked and flattened herself against a wall to keep from getting flattened by several men bringing in what looked like equipment; four of them each carrying what looked like supplies, one of them even had an IV in his hands. Kaoru watched with wide eyes as they made four trips, apparently setting her bedroom up into a portable hospital.

Shaking her head, Kaoru finally managed to wiggle her way past all the bodies and into her kitchen to wash her hands and then set herself up in the living room to stay out of the way. Part of her wanted to know what the hell was going on but she didn’t feel that it was any of her business to go and bother someone who might be saving that girls life.

Eventually people started to filter into the sitting room. Some of the people left, taking some of the unexplainable vehicles away from the home, but they eventually crashed in the living room. Kaoru found herself pinned between two big bodies. “So you’re the Kamiya girl,” one of them asked, obviously his attempt to be kind. Kaoru gave a brief nod and wondered if she should offer them something to drink. However, a girl sat herself down, a glass of fruit juice in her hand so Kaoru changed her mind; they obviously knew their way around.

“Sano didn’t say you were shy,” the woman said with a smile.

“I wasn’t aware that I was,” Kaoru replied, attempting to smile.

“Don’t worry about Misao,” the man next to her said with a smile, his blonde hair twisted upwards in a curious fashion. “She is a fighter. The girl just got Shinomori to pop the question; I doubt she is going to let something as simple as death keep her from that wedding she wants.”

Kaoru just nodded and considered the expressions on the faces around her. They were worn and held lines that spoke of deep concern, but there was no mistrust. She wondered if it was because she was living with Kenshin or because Sano had really opened his mouth recently. They conversation continued around her after that and Kaoru was getting a little sick of being talked around when they suddenly stopped. Kaoru turned and realized the tall man from earlier with the cold eyes had walked in. “Cho, Omasu… report back to headquarters. Misao made an emergency phone call before Sano picked her up, it should have information on it. Run a background analysis and report back here in an hour.”

The body to her left disappeared along with the woman in the room, leaving her with the extremely short man and the one who looked like he did some sort of body building.
“Shikijō you and Beshimi will act as guards tonight. Make sure no one unauthorized enters or leaves this house.” Kaoru met his eyes squarely when they landed on her but he obviously had nothing to say to her and that was fine with Kaoru. She couldn’t think of any sort of polite conversation that wouldn’t sound ridiculous anyway.

Kaoru stood and decided to load the dishwasher and then to crash. She wasn’t doing any good and it was obvious that while her presence was being tolerated, she wasn’t exactly on their top list of people to trust. Doing the dishes made her feel useful and she hated going to bed with dishes in the sink. They taunted her all night.

Since Misao was being operated on in her bed, the only other option was Kenshin’s room. She didn’t trust Sano’s bed as far as she could throw it. There was no telling when the last time Sano had washed his sheets, Kenshin was finicky about his laundry; Kaoru stayed ontop of hers only because she didn’t have anything else to do.

Opening the door to his room, Kaoru blinked several times to adjust before she went and turned on the lamp next to his bed. She was thankful she had already brushed her teeth before Sano came barging in. Her clothing was splattered in blood from Sano forcing her to take over the pressure bandage so she dug through Kenshin’s dresser to find a shirt. Once she made sure the door connecting to the hallway was shut firmly, crawled under the sheets rolled her eyes. Figured the man would have silk sheets. The fact that they were black was also vaguely amusing until her brain decided to offer her the mental picture of how well Kenshin would look in his bed. Shaking off the thought, Kaoru turned off the light and snuggled into one of his pillows, breathing in the scent of his cologne and shampoo.

It took a while to fall sleep, the hum of the machines down the hall and voices rising and falling distracting her even in the Kenshin’s bedroom. Eventually she managed to fall into a half doze, every loud sound waking her for the next few hours until things fell into an odd silence that allowed her to find a deeper sleeping pattern.

She woke to a loud banging noise inside the house and sat up, looking around the room. Light was sneaking in from the window and Kaoru swung her eyes to the clock, groaning when she realized it was only a little past seven. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked when realized there was a bag on the bed. She was still starring at it in befuddlement when the door opened. Turning, she blinked at Kenshin who looked surprised to see her awake.

“You should be sleeping,” Kenshin scolded as he walked over, brushing a hand through her bangs. “It’s still early.”

“When did you get home?” Kaoru questioned, sitting up a little more. “Is the girl alright?”

“A few hours ago,” Kenshin admitted. “Misao is going to make it but it was touch and go for a little while. She is going to be fragile for a while so Aoshi is moving a cot into your room and staying with her. Megumi will be staying in Sano’s room to be close at hand so were going to have a houseful for a while.”

Kaoru nodded. “I should probably get up then,” she said, lifting a hand to cover a yawn.

“I don’t see why,” Kenshin commented. “They know there way around the place. I didn’t get in until almost four and you hadn’t been in bed that long, Kaoru. Get some rest.”

Kaoru eyed him. “Are you saying this because you want me to sleep or because you want me to sleep in your bed?”

“I’ll never tell,” Kenshin said solemnly. “Go back to sleep. I will probably join you once Aoshi finishes droning on with his report.” He winked and pulled the covers back up to her waist. “Sano says you did really well last night.”

“I avoided people,” Kaoru contradicted, allowing herself to be tucked back under the covers. “Tell Sano he gets to buy me a new mattress since the one I was using is covered in blood now.”

“I shall pass the message along,” Kenshin promised as she buried her nose in his pillow.

“I can’t sleep with people starring so go away,” Kaoru growled at him as he continued to stand by the bed. He laughed but the sound of the door opening and shutting sent her to sleep with a faint smile on her face.

Kaoru woke up a third time to the sun coming through the curtains and a solid body next to her. Kenshin had wrapped arm around her waist and had somehow tangled his legs up with hers. Snuggling a little firmer against him, Kaoru tried to figure out what had woken her up. Hearing what sounded like a crash from the kitchen she sighed and wiggled her way out from under his arm. She looked over to make sure she hadn’t woken him to find a sleepy set of cat eyes watching her. “Go back to sleep,” Kaoru ordered, rolling out from under the covers. “I am going to make sure no one burned anything down.” She guessed he hadn’t much sleep over the past few days because he did as she ordered, closing his eyes and apparently drifting back to sleep.

Kaoru headed into the kitchen and found a strange sight. The man named Aoshi was sitting at the table, drinking what looked like a cup of coffee and reading the paper, the lines of his face having smoothed out a little. The one Sano had called Meg was eating what appeared to be a bowel of ice-cream, her features drawn and tired. Sano was the reason she had woken, he had apparently dropped one of the ceramic bowl and spilled milk and cereal everywhere. Kaoru decided to ignore Sano and poured herself a cup of coffee, snapped up a granola bar, and set down at the table.

“Ice cream, the breakfast of champions?” Kaoru questioned once she had taken a drink of her life blood. The woman looked startled but a smile curved the edges of her lips.

“It’s a bit of tradition,” she explained. “I’m Megumi.”

“Kaoru,” Kaoru offered, aware that everyone in the room probably new who she was on the basis that she was the face they didn’t recognize her. The woman gave a polite nod and both of them turned as Sano dropped into a chair, a bowl of cheerios drowning in milk before him.

“You,” Sano said, pointing a finger at Kaoru. “Are in trouble.”

Kaoru unwrapped her granola bar and rolled her eyes, deliberately ignoring him.

“You slept in his bed! With him!” Sano continued.

“That,” Megumi broke in, her features puzzled. “Is what people in a relationship do, Sano.”

“Oh Kenshin and I aren’t in a relationship,” Kaoru assured Megumi, smiling at the woman’s suddenly baffled expression. “However,” Kaoru pinned Sano with a look. “If I want to crawl into his bed, I can. If I want to have hot, wild, steamy--” Sano’s expression was green as he waved his hands frantically. “Sex, I can. So stay out of it.” She took a bite from her granola bar and chewed happily. She caught the expression on Megumi’s face and swallowed. “Yes?”

“You’re not in a relationship with him but you’re sleeping with him?”

“Technically it’s none of your business,” Kaoru told her cheerfully. “However, no, we haven’t had sex and no, we aren’t in a relationship. But I am sleeping in his bed since mine is occupied.”

“You can sleep on the couch.” Sano interrupted.

“There are people moving in and out of this house at odd hours,” Kaoru told him in an exasperated tone. “Why would I sleep on the couch?”

“You can have my bed.” Sano tried.

“Megumi, the brave soul, is staying on your spare set of sheets on your bed and needs her privacy so she can sleep when isn’t tending Misao.” Kaoru corrected. “I am sure Aoshi agrees with me.”

The man didn’t make a sound but Sano frowned. “You can sleep in the basement!”

Kaoru threw her granola bar at him and watched it hit him in the head with a satisfying noise. “I am not sleeping somewhere that smells like dirty socks!”

Megumi scooped up another spoonful of Karou’s precious cookies and cream ice-cream, her expression thoughtful. “So, the expression on Kenshin’s face last night when Cho mentioned that Kaoru was asleep in his bed meant what?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Sano said fiercely. Kaoru rolled her eyes and stood, taking her coffee mug with her. Reaching into the cabinet she pulled down another mug and filled it.

“What are you doing?” Sano demanded, turning around and glaring at her.

“Well, Aoshi has been tossing looks at the hallway for the past five minutes, so I can assume he is hoping that Kenshin wakes up soon. Plus, someone just pulled into the drive which means Kenshin probably needs to get up, so I am taking him coffee and drinking my next cup with him so I can avoid pointless conversations with you.” Kaoru told him with a smile. “Plus I need to change clothes. So, I suspect Kenshin will be out in about ten minutes if that person is indeed waiting on him,” she told Aoshi. She shrugged at Sano’s expression. “Learn to multitask, chicken head.”

“Hey!” Sano complained, moving as if to follow her but stopping when Megumi put a hand on his wrist, her features twisted into an expression Kaoru couldn’t decipher. Deciding to ignore them, she walked down the hall.

Kenshin hadn’t moved from where she had left him and Kaoru felt bad about waking him. She set both mugs down onto the dresser and crawled back onto the bed, knowing that he was awake. “Come on sleepy head, there is someone here to see you,” Kaoru scolded, bouncing the bed a little. “I brought coffee.”

Kenshin gave what sounded like a sigh before opening his eyes and pushing himself up. Kaoru eyes his features with a frown, noting the dark circles under his eyes.

“You know,” Kaoru said as she handed him his mug, ignoring the way he lifted a brow at the dancing elephants emblazoned on the side of the cup. “You really need to try to sleep more tonight. You have dark circles under your eyes.”

“Thank you for the ego boost,” Kenshin replied, taking a long sip from his mug. He waited until she had secured her own mug before pulling her against his side, keeping an eye on the liquid sloshing at the sides. “This is surprisingly domestic,” he teased after several minutes of silence and sipping on their drinks.

“Don’t get used to it,” Kaoru warned. “Someone else made the coffee. Anyway, I told them you would be out in ten minutes or so, so you better finish that fast if you want to shower before you go deal with the cavalry.”

Kenshin’s response was to rest his forehead against her shoulder for a long moment and sigh. “I need to shower too you know,” Kaoru warned him. “So you better get going.”

“Wanna join me?” Kenshin offered.

Kaoru snorted. “You’re going to have to work a little harder than that if you want to see me naked.” She poked his thigh. “You better get moving. Aoshi was already fidgeting when I left.”

Kenshin pulled himself away and downed the rest of his coffee. “Aoshi doesn’t fidget.”

“Well, he kept sending these looks at the hall like he couldn’t believe you were sleeping,” Kaoru admitted. “I’ll change clothes and then take these mugs to the kitchen and take the shower later. You get moving.” She jabbed him in the ribs and he gave another sigh before rolling off the bed and pulling his shirt over his head.

“You sure you don’t want to join me?” His voice was teasing but his eyes were serious, warm gold.

“I told you,” Kaoru said with a smile. “You get to work for it.” She let her eyes wander his shoulders and chest. “Now get going, standing there half naked isn’t going to change my mind.”

Kenshin pouted. Kaoru decided that men should not have the ability to use their lower lip in that manner while there eyes retained that mischievous glint. Shaking her head no, Kaoru picked up the bag and started rifling through it to see what Kenshin had brought her from her room. He sighed heavily but went and climbed into the shower.

Although he left the door cracked open in obvious invitation. Kaoru changed into a pair of jeans and a clean sweater before grabbing the mugs and moving back into the kitchen to clean them. The table will full and Kaoru blinked in surprise when she realized that sitting in her empty chair was the largest man Kaoru had ever seen.

His thick hair was pulled back into a tail at the nape of his neck put several strands had fallen back around his features, and messy bangs fell into his eyes. He looked up as she walked in and considered her for long moments, something about his gaze setting her teeth on edge but Kaoru managed to keep her mouth shut. She was about to walk out when he finally spoke. “Kamiya,” Kaoru turned, lifting one brow in question. “You might as well stick around for this. It’s going to involve you as well.”

Kaoru blinked.

“Go get extra chairs,” the man ordered Sano, drilling him with his eyes. “You live here and she shouldn’t have to carry anything.”

“I am perfectly capable of carrying my own chair.” Kaoru pointed out.

“I said you shouldn’t have to. Hard labor is reserved for idiots.” He replied, his voice bored, his eyes glittering in an almost familiar manner.

Kaoru took the chair that Sano brought her and sat down. The conversation was nonexistent and the big man kept watching her with considering eyes. Blowing her bangs out of her eyes, Kaoru turned and waited for Kenshin. He came out a few moments later, buttoning up the buttons of his shirt a bit carelessly, frowning a little when he saw her. He took the chair next to her and lifted a brow.

“I supposed you were waiting for me?” Kenshin drawled.

“You’re brilliance never ceases to amaze me,” the tall man informed him. “You could also introduce me to your lady friend.”

“I’m Kaoru,” Kaoru informed him. “Either you have a name or you don’t, and don’t refer to me as his lady friend.”

The man gave her a dark look. “What makes you think I was referring to you?”

“I’m the only person here whose face you don’t know,” Kaoru reminded him, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

“I like her,” he told Kenshin. “I’m Hiko Seijiro. You might have heard my name.”

Kaoru winced internally. Great. Well, in for the dime in for the dollar. “I’m sure it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Kaoru replied, refusing to blush.

“Shinomori here has discovered that there are two leaks. We have already eliminated the first but have yet to discover the second. Until then, all of you are going to be on lock down.” Hiko turned to Kaoru, his eyes glittering. “That means you can’t leave.”

“So different from what I have been doing.” Kaoru shot back; starting to feel very annoyed at the way slight smiles seemed to be gracing everyone’s features. Kenshin’s smug grin was what was really setting her teeth on edge.

The rest of the meeting covered several tactical details that Kaoru half listened to. Sano seemed to notice something because he kept trying to catch her eye, shaking his head when he thought she had it.

“I have a phone call to make. Shinomori, Kenshin, meet me in five.” Hiko said, standing and walking by. Kaoru’s eyes narrowed when Hiko patted her on the head. “You will fit in well.”

Sano managed to catch her attention as she opened her mouth and gave a fast shake of his head and Kaoru scowled. “Why the long face?” Kenshin questioned, leaning forward to speak softly with her.

“You patronizing me and I don’t like it,” Kaoru told him in an irritated voice. “If your boss ruffles my hair again I am going to go for flesh.”

Kenshin was obviously attempting not to laugh. Kaoru scowled at him.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, his eyes gleaming with his amusement.

Kaoru scowled. “You’re far too smug.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Kenshin questioned.

Kaoru lifted a brow but before she could say anything the phone rang and he sighed, rolling his eyes as he went to answer it.

Kaoru allowed herself to admire his ass. Well, as long as she got to keep little pleasures like those to herself, she supposed to she could deal with the rest of the shit he was going to make her deal with. Stretching on the chair, she allowed a faint smile to hover on her lips, winking at Kenshin when he lifted a brow in question.

The boy wasn’t going to know what hit him.



Title: .031 Knife
Characters: Kenshin/Kaoru/Misao
Prompt: .032 Torn
Word Count: 796
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Cat!Something Kenshin….
Author's Notes: Random Drabble



He was watching her again.

Swirling the wine in her glass she flicked her fan open with a graceful flick of her wrist. She didn’t turn to look at the throne and the strange, bright haired sidhe the king was keeping near him the way a few of the ladies kept those strange, stripped cats as pets. There was something innately dangerous about the man, something in the way his bones and muscles were shaped; his movement’s liquid and smooth instead of the slow and deliberate.

She wondered how well he used that sword that was strapped along his spine.

Cutting her eyes across the room she met the eyes of her cousin. There was a troubled expression there and Kaoru bit the side of her tongue to stifle her curses.

So he was watching as blatantly as she had expected. Handing her glass off to a bus boy she set about integrating herself into the crowd. Her connections to the throne were loose enough that she could slip away without the court particularly caring. While his starring was troubling, she didn’t think he had put his finger on their customs enough yet to speak to the King about the possibility of her company.

If he had, then it was just a matter of out stepping the messengers. It wouldn’t be the first time she had skittered around the edges of the King’s awareness and she sincerely doubted it would be the last.

Misao was acting as her lookout, so when she jerked a little, fan flaring out in warning quickened her pace and slide between skirts and bodies, smiling easily and twisting her fan in greeting.

She paused just for a moment as she slide into the empty halls, gathering her skirts into her hand to move – ladies did not run – quickly down the hall when fingers hot enough to brand slide around her wrist.

She already knew who it was even before she had turned. A messenger would never have touched her and the men of the court would consider it rude. She considered it rude. Turning, she kept her expression carefully blank. It was a struggle to hold when she realized how close he was.

His eyes were not the copper color she had originally considered watching him in the courtroom, but a strange mix of gold and bronze. The colors were distinct and separate, twisting around his pupil. This close she could smell his skin – embers and heated air – and his eyelashes were beautiful.

She considered bringing her fan down on his wrist, the spine of it was lined in bone, but it had been a gift and she refused to waste something so beautiful on a man like this without having to.

She would not break the silence.

The edges of his rather thin lips curled. “Running away?”

She worked to keep her expression cool. “I beg your pardon?”

His thumb slid along the veins in her wrist and she tightened her grip on her fan. His fingers were clawed and they looked sharp. She did not appreciate the silent threat of them so close to her veins.

“You’re leaving.”

Instead, she tried for innocence and used her lashes to shield her eyes. “It grows late.”

Those ridiculously long lashes veiled his eyes and when he looked back up they were white hot. Snapping her fan closed – he could let go of her wrist, now – she shifted away from him in a silent demand to release her.

“I asked the king to speak to you.”

She tilted her chin. “I did not receive such a message.”

That smile sharpened. “You are hearing it now.”

Lifting her fan, she settled it on his wrist, applying just enough pressure to convey her message. His eyes glittered and he did not let go.

“You’re being rude.”

“You’re being obtuse.” He returned lightly.

“Surely any message you wish to convey can wait until they can be done through the proper channels.” Kaoru continued, tapping his wrist above a precise bundle of nerves so his fingers went lax and she was able to escape his hold. Burying her wrist into her skirts, she lowered her eyes and dipped into a proper, precise curtsy.

When she glanced back up at him his expression had shifted. It was sharp, angled at the cheekbones and jaw in a way that made her stomach lurch.

“Tomorrow is the new moon, Lady Kamiya.”

She watched him turn and enter the busy ballroom. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she swallowed several times.

The great hunting cats preferred the new moon to catch their prey. He knew her name. Flicking her fan open to hide the way her mouth trembled, she stood there for several long moments, catching her breath.