As she saw it, Kaoru had only two choices; either peacefully hand the key over to Battousai, her precious key she rarely removed from around her neck, the one key that symbolized her father’s love. Or, she could simply fight him until the very end and die in the process.
Her choice was very clear.
There was no other choice.
How could she possibly hand over the one thing she promised her father she would never lose?
With sea blue eyes gone ablaze, Kaoru silently reached for the butcher knife that had fallen to the floor of her dining room when she and her assailant struggled to overpower the other. She knew she wouldn’t win, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to fight him with all the strength she could muster.
When her fingers steadily wrapped around the handle of the massive knife, she breathed in deeply. She was prepared to die before she ever handed her key over to these awful men. Slowly lifting her arm while she held the knife’s handle tightly, her hand trembling in clear anticipation, Kaoru never looked away from the smoldering amber gaze that watched her every movement. She could only hope that he didn’t know what she planned to do with the butcher knife. Of course, what else would she use the knife for other than to attack her attacker?
Her eyes narrowing in rage, she stepped forward, knife at the ready.
It did her no good, however, for when she would have rushed at him, aiming the butcher knife for the man’s burgundy head, he latched onto her arm and yanked her forward, her feet sliding across the smooth, hardwood floor, until she stood before him, her narrowed, agitated gaze locked on the shoulder of his heavy trench coat.
She absolutely refused to meet his eyes.
“Will you comply, or must I…treat you as I would treat, perhaps, a target?” His voice soft and calm as his scrutinizing, oddly colored stare observed the top of Kaoru’s head coolly, Battousai relaxed slightly, releasing some of that intense, negative energy he had held onto when he had first entered the apartment. It seemed the woman, Kamiya Kaoru, hadn’t changed much over the course of seven years; except for her maturity, of course. She still had a fiery nature, and the young woman wasn’t afraid of defending herself against thieves such as the ones who had tried to steal the key from her. A man had to respect that in a woman, especially if that same woman didn’t flinch in the face of danger, death, and destruction.
“No, I will not comply! What do you take me for? I want you gone, and now! I will never give you this key, never. It belongs to me and only me,” Kaoru snapped furiously as she twisted her arm out of the Battousai’s firm, steel-like grip, quick to spin on her heels and rush towards the living room, searching for a suitable place to hide. Now that light flooded the apartment, she knew that it would be hard to find a hiding place. She wasn’t exactly the sneaky sort.
Skidding across the slick, beige-carpeted floor, Kaoru twirled around until the back of the crimson sofa caught her in the back of her knees, sending her tumbling over the couch and onto its comfortable cushions. Wincing when her backside landed roughly in the middle of the twin set of cushions, she thanked the lord that her fall had been cushioned by the soft pillows.
What a sight she must have made when she flipped over the back of the sofa and landed on the cushions with a light bounce. Shaking her head, as if she meant to clear her mind and rattle it back into order, Kaoru sat up, completely unaware of the pair of amused, darkly ominous orbs watching from the woman’s, Kimi’s, bedroom.
Another man had come to do their job. How interesting, he mused as he scratched his chin in thought. He had thought that, at the time, he would be the one to take the girl out, but another assassin beat him to it. What perfect timing. When the golden-eyed intruder finished off the girl, he would step in and take the key off his hands; after he killed the intruder, of course.
Hitokiri Battousai, a man who had perfect timing.
He slinked back into the shadows of the room silently and unnoticeable to watch from the safe haven of its gloom.
Battousai’s lips twitched at their corners, as if he wanted to smile but refused to show such a display of emotion. Kamiya had thought that she could hide from him; that much was clear when she had rushed from his side and headed for the living room. She was a smart woman and light on her feet, but not quick enough for a man known for his speed, speed for which he was granted the name Hitokiri Battousai.
Instantly, he was at her side, having moved so fast that Kaoru wasn’t even aware of where he intended to be.
His scowl was fierce as his twin, irately swirling orbs of tawny glared down the length of his nose at her. He tired of this game she played. “I tire of your stubbornness, Kamiya. I’m asking you to hand that key over to me quietly, and I promise you that no harm will come to you. Do we have an understanding?”
When Kaoru would have contemplated angering Battousai further by stubbornly refusing his offer, she was hauled to her feet roughly and pushed towards the white, spotless, leather recliner Kimi had bought for her own birthday this past year. Her knees buckled beneath her, and with little help from her assassin, Kaoru sank down onto the chair, her back stiffly settling against the recliner’s comfortable cushions. Any other time, she would have enjoyed the lounger‘s comfort, but as of now, her life was at stake.
Her blue gaze rose to meet the frustrated hues belonging to the man she had been reunited with this night, a man she had hoped never again to lay her eyes on.
“Must we do this the hard way, girl? I had thought that maybe you would understand why I need the key—“
“Understand,” Kaoru repeated dumbfounded as her thin, delicate brows furrowed in heated concentration. “What is there to understand when you haven’t tried explaining your reasons to me? In order for me to understand, I first need to know what the hell you want with my key! I hope you don’t expect me to know these things right off the bat.”
Rolling her eyes, Kaoru folded her arms defiantly across her chest and pursed her lips, but as Battousai prepared to give her an explanation as to why he needed her key, she cut him off.
“Hell, I don’t even know what those men wanted with this key seven years ago! My father gave it to me as a gift and told me to always keep it by my side. I don’t know why men would all of a sudden crowd at my door and break into my home so they could steal a key that means nothing to them. Maybe you could tell me?” A hint of scorn lacing her words, Kaoru glared irritably at the man who silently stood facing her, one hand curled around the hilt of his deadly weapon.
Her petulant, blue orbs lowered to that of the sword he wore at his waist, pondering the reason why a man in the twenty-first century would associate himself with the way of the samurai. “And why in the hell do you carry a sword? An ancient, samurai sword by the look of it…I work at a swords shop, you know. Swords fascinate me.”
Battousai blinked several times at the abrupt change of subject as he followed the woman’s interested gaze to where he was absently fingering the wooden hilt of his sword. Returning his attention to the subject at hand, he impatiently observed Kaoru through lowered, heavy, burgundy lashes.
“The subject at hand, woman, is that key you wear around your neck. I will not tolerate you trying to change the subject just to catch me off guard. I would rather not tell you my reasons for wanting this key, especially if you don’t know what it’s for, but if you would only give it to me…”
“…And if I don’t…” Kaoru mockingly addressed Battousai’s impatience with a bitter smile.
“I will forcibly take it from you,” he stated in a dispassionate tone, his façade void of all emotion. He was practically threatening Kaoru by simply implying that it would be in her best interest to obey his order. “Which will it be?”
“Hm, let me think about it.”
Without further warning, Kaoru bolted out of the recliner and darted past Battousai, heading in the direction of the doorway. If she could get away from him long enough to dial 911, everything would be fine. She might be dead by the time they reached her apartment, but the bad guys would lose and she would still have her key.
Shocked, Battousai peered over his shoulder just as Kaoru reached the hallway, nearly to the door. He wouldn’t let her get far. Maybe, he would give her a few seconds head start, but he wouldn’t let her fully escape him, not without the key in his possession. “I don’t fucking have time for this,” he growled in an animalistic nature as he started for the woman, determination forcing his pace to exceed even his usual rapidity.
However, just as Kaoru dashed through the doorway, she was thrown off balance by someone’s leg, unexpectedly stumbling over the appendage. Her eyes widened in surprise when she was shoved into the railing lining the hallway leading towards the metal staircase, and another body soon joined hers.
“Ah, pretty bird, you thought you could run from us,” the intruder breathed against her neck as he pressed open-mouthed kisses to her throat. “Did I not tell you what would happen if you tried to fight us?”
Kaoru couldn’t believe that she had run from one trap, temporarily escaping it, only to find herself thrown into another one. Wasn’t she the lucky one here. Her eyes flashing her annoyance, she glowered at the very same blonde man who had assaulted her in Kimi’s bedroom.
“Thank you ever so kindly for your help, Battousai. I’ll take it from here,” Houji murmured sneeringly as his dark eyes turned to stare fearlessly at the violent, burgundy-haired man who had come to join them the moment Little Kamiya Kaoru flew into his arms. He knew how dangerous taunting the infamous assassin could be, and that right now his life was running on thin thread, but it showed Hitokiri Battousai that not every man feared his very presence.
But he was nervous.
It wasn’t everyday he had to face such a formidable foe. Battousai would have to die, but exactly how he was going to pull that off Houji didn’t know.
He was silent as he observed Houji through guarded, narrowed eyes, sizing the taller man up. He wasn’t a threat that needed to be dealt with quickly. If Houji believed that he could best him in a fight, which he knew that that was exactly what the other man thought, he wouldn’t stop him. Actually, he would encourage it. It had been a long time since he got to pick his own fights, and Battousai needed to do something to relieve this dangerous, negative tension thrumming through his body.
“So, have a good night, Mr. Battousai,” Houji smirked openly as he lifted his heavy, black coat away from his waist, displaying the revolver he had stashed in his belt for all to see.
Kaoru nervously glanced down at the gun, knowing for sure that something horrible would happen tonight. These men were both cruel, possibly assassins, and they enjoyed a good fight every now and then. She had to find a way to escape them both. Chewing on her lower lip as her eyes rose to meet the danger that lurked beneath the calm stare of Battousai, Kaoru inhaled sharply.
He was such an unpredictable sort, this Hitokiri Battousai. Battousai’s newest enemy seemed to know exactly who he was, but Kaoru didn’t know a thing about him. He was a man, of course, but what kind of man was he? To have such a profession hanging over his head, he must not have much of a conscience.
Houji furrowed his brows, bewildered as to the reason why Battousai remained standing where he had been standing from the start of their confrontation. He knew the man didn’t care for the indigo-eyed bitch. Taking in the slight man with his long burgundy hair, his icy amber gaze, and the sword barely hidden by the long, heavy length of his black trench coat, Houji apprehensively licked his lips.
Wordlessly and swiftly, Battousai sank into a battle crouch, one hand poised just above the wooden hilt of his lethal weapon.
Breathless and with an eagerness born of the prospect that he would be fighting this legendary creature, Houji shoved Kaoru out of his way as he whipped his revolver out of his belt and hastily trained the barrel on Battousai’s chest. “A draw, Battousai; or, perhaps, you would rather die now?” Perspiration dotted Houji’s upper lip, but he trembled in earnest expectancy as his lips curled into a smile of viciousness.
Battousai’s answer was a mere twisting of his lips as he glanced briefly at the nervously fidgeting Kaoru who stood only a few paces away from Houji. She could bolt at anytime. He really didn’t have time for this.
This man would have to die quickly.
“If you truly wish to die, then come at me. If your desire is to see another day, I suggest you get the hell out of my way.” His timbre dropping in warmth, and bitterly so, Battousai’s strong, calloused fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt of his sword, ready to spring into action when Houji made his decision. If the bastard didn’t hurry and make that decision soon, Battousai would choose for him, and Houji really wouldn’t appreciate the outcome.
“I won’t take the coward’s way out, Battousai,” Houji snickered disdainfully as he cocked the hammer, the sound of his gun preparing to fire off a few rounds echoing along the deathly quiet, outside hall.
“As you wish.”
There was no chance to act. When Houji would have taken the opportunity to fire his gun, Battousai vanished from sight.
“Wh—what,” he stammered nervously as his dark eyes darted around the hallway, hoping to seek out the flaming red of Battousai’s unusually long hair. It was no use, though, for Houji wasn’t able to see it, much less the entire body of Battousai. Where the man had disappeared to, he didn’t know.
Kaoru’s soft, frightened gasp was what drew Houji’s wide, russet eyes to the materializing Battousai, but he couldn’t react in time to fire his gun before Battousai’s sword rushed forward to meet its intended target. Houji briefly suffered the serration of the worn blade slashing through skin and tendons before the bloody stump of a severed arm pulled at his attention, noting with confusion that his revolver lay at his feet, his detached hand still gripping it.
Kaoru watched in appalled horror as blood spurted from the stump that had once been Houji’s arm. What truly disgusted her was the fact that Battousai wasn’t finished with him yet. He was baiting him, and he was enjoying it.
“Poor, little fool,” Battousai crooned as he circled Houji’s slumping form, a smile of great satisfaction grazing his lips. “You thought you had actually stood a chance against me.” His smile fading, his voice lowered to a deadly whisper. “I really don’t have time for this because I have places to be, so do you have any last words before you meet your end?”
“Yes,” Houji spat ferociously as he cupped the end of his now shortened arm, ignoring the thick blood that drenched his hand the moment it came into contact with the bloody stub. “Go to hell.”
“Gladly,” Battousai murmured softly before he lunged forward, sword raised, and brought the deadly weapon down on Houji’s head, decapitating the man with swift ease. Straightening as soon as the head rolled to the side, towards a shocked Kaoru, Battousai reached into the pocket of his trench coat, his fingers grasping the filthy, white cloth he carried around with him everywhere he went, and silently pulled it out of the large pocket. He knew that Kaoru watched his every move with wary, narrowed eyes, probably having not expected to witness him murder another person right in front of her eyes. She, no doubt, expected to be next.
Kaoru inwardly cringed when Battousai wiped the remaining blood from Houji’s lifeless body off the sword and onto the dirty rag. The rag was an old piece of cloth the man must have been using for years, seeing how it had once been white but was now stained a dark crimson from the blood of others.
She was going to be sick.
She was about to lose her dinner.
Kaoru’s breathing grew labored as her blue eyes briefly glimpsed the lifeless head, Houji’s eyes glazed over from his sudden, painful death. Oh, yes, she was definitely going to be sick. Her head was swimming, and she was literally swaying on her feet. This was just like the last time she had watched a brutal murder take place. In fact, many murders took place that fateful night.
There had been so much blood.
Body appendages had littered the school’s hallway.
It had been a disgusting sight.
And this golden-eyed man had been the one behind the most brutal of all murders, just as he was responsible for Houji’s death.
Gritting her teeth as panicked shock began to affect her stomach, giving her the churning sensation of bits and pieces of food demanding to be released into the world, Kaoru covered her mouth weakly as her pallor paled with considerable rate. When her nervous, wide eyes sought and found the strange, inapt warmth that Battousai carried behind his narrowed, pleased hues the color of a darkly polished goldenrod, Kaoru slid farther down the hallway, against the cold, metal railing, wanting to get as far away from Battousai as she possibly could.
Battousai merely watched her as she recoiled in fear, his eyes flashing in frustration. He could read her emotions so well that he knew exactly what she wanted to do at that moment.
Run.
In which she did.
Kaoru hurried along the sidewalk, her indigo-blue eyes warily focused on the point straight ahead of her, not bothering to look around for fear of being followed. She didn’t know where she planned to go, or even where she would hide for that matter, but she wouldn’t stop until she was certain no one, including the demon she had left behind back at her apartment, pursued her.
Her knees were beginning to tremble from the effort it took her to merely stand on her own two feet. She was exhausted, mentally and physically. So much had happened in the last few hours; finding Kimi lying on her floor, motionless, meeting the man from her nightmares after seven years of trying to forget him and everything that had happened that night, attacking the assassin with a butcher knife, witnessing a man’s vile murder. A person shouldn’t have to endure so much all in one night. Actually, a person shouldn’t have to endure any of that at all.
“Damn,” Muttering under her breath, her teeth chattering from the nightly breeze whipping through the long, tangled strands of her dark, ebony hair, chillingly caressing the back of her neck, Kaoru bent over her knees in order to take a breather. Running like this was only showing her how truly out of shape she really was.
Unpredictably, thunder deafeningly rumbled through the city and streaks of lightening lit the entire, darkened sky as though the sun had finally come out. “Oh, this is perfect,” Kaoru grumbled in vexation when the first hint of a heavy downpour sprinkled onto the top of her bowed head, the small raindrops gradually rolling down her cheeks.
Just what she needed; rain.
Someone must be deliberately punishing her. Never had she had so much bad luck in one day.
Running a hand through her tangled, damp hair while she sighed in exasperation, Kaoru slipped around the corner of an abandoned building and into the nearest alley. She had always labeled these deserted alleys as short-cuts but as she squinted through the beginnings of a heavy downpour, the raindrops slightly blurring her vision, Kaoru couldn’t quite make out exactly where she was. Once again, luck was with her; the bad kind anyway.
“Does someone hate me tonight or something?” Kaoru asked herself as she pressed her back against the cold stone of the wall, the roof overhead sheltering her from the rain. As long as she was away from the creeps who broke into her apartment, everything would turn out fine. A little rain never hurt anyone, but that didn’t stop her from complaining about it.
On a night such as this one, rain always made a person’s situation seem so much more frightening than it really was. Not only had she been dragged into the total chaos of a greedy group of men, but her closest friend and roommate had joined her.
Kimi…
Her blue eyes widening in surprise, Kaoru smacked a hand against her forehead and repeatedly called herself stupid for forgetting to dial 911. Kimi was still lying on the floor in her bedroom, alone, with that crazed villain in the apartment. She should have called the police first before she took off down the road in order to escape the insane presence of the Night Predator. That name fit Hitokiri Battousai well because she just couldn’t look at him any other way. He was a predator who killed during the night. Reaching into the pocket of her jean jacket, Kaoru searched the small space for her cell phone. There was still time to call an ambulance for Kimi. She was positive nothing else had happened to the woman. That is, unless Battousai had decided after she ran off to play around with that deadly sword he carried.
Just as she was dialing the number for emergencies, the side of her head startlingly met the harsh knuckles of a tall man in his late thirties, his odd-framed glasses settling on the bridge of his nose. Kaoru was robbed of her breath as her head was forcibly knocked to the right, nearly coming close to the brick wall. She had no time to act, or even to think, before unconsciousness slowly conquered her weary mind.
The last thing she remembered hearing was, “Damn bitch nearly got away. Boss will be pleased. That key will soon be his.”
“Why the fuck did you bring her here?”
“She had nowhere else to stay.”
“I thought you only wanted the key, not the woman who wore it.”
“That woman might become important later on when we actually try to find the place. Hey, if you don’t want to keep her here, I can hand her over to Isurugi. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
“Fuck that, Kanryuu. I know how that bastard is around women.”
“So, then, she’ll be staying here?”
An extensive pause filled the tense atmosphere in the room as dark, smirking eyes locked with that of the frightening, tawny hues belonging to one of the most feared men in the syndicate. Finally, after sighing in annoyance, a decision was made.
“Fine, she’ll stay, but I’ll tell you now that I’m not going to be her babysitter. I don’t even see how she can be of any use to us when she doesn’t even know what the damn key is for. She told me herself that she only kept it because it had been a gift from her father.”
“You spoke to her?” The question expressed surprise.
“What the hell was I suppose to do with her and those fucking questions if I didn’t speak to her, Kanryuu?” Impatient, the tawny orbs narrowed dangerously to slits.
“You aren’t much of a social person, Himura. I was only curious. So,” a grin of satisfaction curling his lips, his voice mockingly lowered to a whisper. “It’s settled then. The girl stays here for the time being. When you tire of her, I’ll give her to Isurugi. He wouldn’t mind the distraction.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t,” was the muttered reply before the two men said their farewells. Then, the one called Kanryuu was forced out the front door from the sheer strength in which Himura slammed the door shut.
Kaoru had been listening to their entire conversation from the beginning of Himura’s complaint about having to baby-sit her right up to the point of Kanryuu’s leaving whichever building they were in. She had awoken, perhaps, half an hour ago with a splitting headache, and when she had contemplated going back to sleep, the raised voices had caught her attention.
One of those masculine voices sounded familiar, but she had been unable to place a name with the face or the voice at the time.
Kaoru winced slightly from the throbbing of her head, just above her eyebrows; it was beginning to bother her. She always had such terrible migraines mostly from the stress of being a college freshman, but this one was different. She felt as though someone had run over her head with a dull lawnmower. Or, maybe, she had been punched. She voted the second choice. It sounded like something that would most likely happen. Kaoru didn’t know of a person whose lawnmower made a skew out of their head.
When the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard moving her way, Kaoru’s blue gaze shifted towards that of the door facing her. For the first time, she noticed that she was lying on a black, leather sofa and that the slightly small room she now occupied was scarcely lit. Where exactly was she? She didn’t like the look of things. She was in a strange place, lying on strange furniture, staying in a strange room. What else could possibly go wrong?
As if to answer her, the doorknob turned, and the darkness filling the room beckoned the light in as soon as the door opened widely.
Kaoru stared in awe as soon as she was able to detect the slightly small silhouette of a man standing in the doorway, the luminous beam casting its light over his dark, burgundy locks. Only when she was met by the intensely concentrated hues of tawny, the faint streak of lilac circling their black pupils, did Kaoru’s eyes widen in alarm.
This couldn’t really be happening to her. No one could hate her so much that they would punish her in such a way.
Kaoru knew that she wasn’t really being punished and that most things that happen have happened for a reason, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being punished for any wrongdoings she might have committed in the earlier years of teenage hood. There had to be a sick, twisted purpose for putting her through this hell. Sighing nervously, Kaoru stared tensely at the intimidating man who hadn’t yet bothered to move into the room. He was merely watching her with guarded, darkening eyes, observing her through the long, burgundy strands one would call his bangs.
And he didn’t look at all pleased to see her.