“Where am I?”
Curiousness in which the question was spoken caused Himura’s eyes to swivel towards that of the young woman who asked it. It was a simple question, yet, it displayed her insolence so well. No frightened woman would ask their supposed kidnapper such a question. No woman of any kind would dare to inquiry their attacker of motives unknown to them. Yet, this woman was doing exactly that. She was staring down her nose at him, her interesting, indigo-blue eyes trained on his unflinchingly.
“Where am I?”
Her repeated question had the same affect on Himura. He glared furiously at the woman who sat on his sofa, in his room, in his house. Ignoring her wasn’t an easy task to do for when he would have shut the spare bedroom’s door and locked it for precaution, Kaoru’s voice carried clearly across the room.
“Well?” She demanded. “Are you not going to tell me?”
“In my fucking house, Kamiya,” he testily replied. Kamiya was beginning to grate on his nerves. Kanryuu, the greedy bastard, was definitely going to pay for putting this woman in his care. It was on the orders of his boss, though. Why Kanryuu should be following his boss’s orders escaped him.
“You brought me here? Was it one of your friends who hit me?” Kaoru’s tone spoke of her annoyance for having been brought to his house of all places, and even more so for the fact that she had been knocked unconscious when she had been brought here. Her narrowed gaze locked on Himura’s irritably flashing, guarded eyes. “Do you enjoy your profession? Do you have fun sending others to their early graves?”
Himura was caught off guard by her contemptuously inquisitive question. She was showing no sign of fear when she looked at him, only disdain. He was her attacker, her kidnapper, and yet she treated him as she would a person she didn’t exactly like; with contempt and sarcasm.
“You aren’t going to answer me, are you?” Kaoru sighed, as if she was upset over the prospect that her piqued interest would go unanswered.
To answer her, Himura simply stepped from the bedroom, his tawny gaze sparking with clearly defined aggravation, and slammed the door shut behind him. Kaoru could hear the heavy bolt of a lock clicking into place before the retreating, light footsteps of her quiet assailant moved away from the room, probably to escape her nosiness.
Kaoru groaned softly to herself as she settled against the comfortable cushions of the black sofa, the true horror of her situation finally taking hold of her mind. She was locked in a bedroom, confined to a room, in a murderer’s house, and she knew that he wanted nothing more than to sink his sword into the crown of her head. She was in a dangerous predicament, and she feared that she would never get out of it.
Battousai, or Himura as she now knew him to be, was a precariously volatile man who wouldn’t hesitate to end her life should she voice her opinions. Kaoru needed to tread cautiously around the assassin, unless she wanted to feel the sharpness of his blade pierce her delicate skin. In general, that only meant she couldn’t be asking anymore mocking questions about anything pertaining to Himura’s profession or the reason why she had to stay with him, here, in his house.
For all she knew, he could be unstable. His anger, as it had just been proven, came unexpectedly, and quite frankly, she didn’t want to be on the serving end of his frightening temper.
She was doomed.
Her fate had been sealed.
She had been thrown into the total chaos of an assassin’s life: what else could she expect happen to her if not death?
“Please, just kill me and get it over with,” Kaoru grumbled as she reached for the closest pillow on the sofa and held it against her bosom, her arms wrapped tightly around it. “I don’t want to think about death for too long. I just want it done,” she murmured into the pillow as she pressed her face into it, wanting to cry her dreadful troubles away, but not wanting to sound or look like a blubbering, foolishly weak woman.
She was proud of her courage and the ability to face death with a calm exterior. She didn’t want Himura to see her as a weak, little girl he should dispose of quickly.
Tossing the pillow aside, Kaoru dragged a trembling hand through her matted, dark hair uneasily as her blue eyes traveled towards that of the locked door facing her. Freedom was so close, yet, so far away. Could she escape her captor a second time? If she thought long and hard on her escape, she knew she could do it. Standing, Kaoru began looking around the room for a possible way to escape. The small room was painted a navy blue, and only a futon, a wooden desk, and a tall lamp that could stand on its own occupied it. There wasn’t even a window for sunlight to stream through. She wondered if this room was always so scarcely lit. With those dark-painted walls, she didn’t doubt it.
Escape looked almost impossible to do. Not only did she not know exactly where Himura’s house was located, but she didn’t know if the house was tapped or if he had an alarm system. Either way, she wouldn’t be able to run very far without being caught again. Then, she, without a doubt, would be dead.
Stopping beside the wooden desk, Kaoru’s curious gaze scanned the desktop. She knew that the room she had been locked in was a spare bedroom of Himura’s, not a room that he would actually call his own. If this room did belong to Himura, then, Kaoru would expect more out of it besides an uncomfortably small futon and a rough, wooden desk. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that just maybe Himura had stashed some important papers in the desk. If that were so, she would have something to use against him, perhaps in exchange for her freedom.
Kaoru grasped the handle of the first, wooden drawer and yanked hard.
It was locked.
She tried it again.
Still no luck.
Moving onto the next drawer, Kaoru found that one to be locked as well. Himura obviously believed in his privacy.
Noticing, at last, the keyholes visible on all four drawers, Kaoru absently retrieved her small, silver key from inside her blouse, her fingers tightly wrapped around it. She already suspected that the key was not in any way connected to Himura, but she still wanted to try the locks on all four drawers. Slipping the key gently into the keyhole, Kaoru’s blue eyes widened in surprise.
Perfect fit.
Turning the key slightly to the left then the right, her shoulders slumped in defeat. Well, it would seem she was being confined to this room for an entirely different reason, one that didn’t involve her key. That was a relief. Still, Kaoru knew Himura was after her key, but not for his own personal gain. He obviously worked for a man who wanted her key, or possibly, a woman.
She would never give her key up to him or anyone else no matter how hard they tried to reason with her or how much they beat her to get it. Only when she was dead would they be able to even touch her key.
Sighing softly with annoyance, Kaoru removed her key from the drawer and returned to the futon. There was nothing more she could do. She obviously wouldn’t be escaping anytime soon. That was for sure. All she had to occupy her time was the futon, in which she planned to fall asleep on. While she slept, she would be free of this horrible nightmare. While she slept, she could dream of her freedom.
“Help me, Kaoru.”
“H—help you? I don’t even know where you are!”
“Look closely, Kaoru. I need your help. I…need…your…help…”
The silvery substance that floated above Kaoru began to fade away into nothingness. Kaoru’s eyes widened in disbelief as she reached for the horrible memory that had come back to haunt her. “Don’t leave me! I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry!” Nothing she could say would make up for the fact that Kaoru was now at the mercy of her mother figure’s murderers. “Come back! Please!” Kaoru’s fingers encircled the mist that surrounded the dying substance.
“Save yourself, Kaoru. Help me by saving yourself.”
“Stop it.”
“Save yourself.”
“Stop screaming!”
“Save yourself.”
“Damn it, woman, shut the hell up!”
Kaoru’s indigo-blue eyes snapped open in fear as her trembling hand instantly reached for the dying substance floating above her head. However, her fingers felt nothing but the tense air that enveloped her slightly panting form. Nothing was there, not the silver, transparent substance or the black void that had taken up much of her space. It had all been a part of her memories. Her confused gaze rose then to meet the narrowed, golden hues of the frightening man who loomed over her, one hand cupping the hilt of his deadly weapon while the other balanced a silver tray of food, her late breakfast.
He was furious with her. Kaoru could tell by the tense set of his jaw. “Your breakfast.” Shoving the tray of food into her trembling hands, Himura eyed the woman intently while she set the tray down on the floor beside the futon. Strangely, he was curious to know what she had been dreaming about. It had to have been horrible to cause such a reaction from her. Her piercing scream still rang through his head.
Kaoru averted her attention to her breakfast, which consisted of two pieces of buttered toast, a bowl of oatmeal, a scrambled egg, and a glass of milk. For a kidnapper, he obviously didn’t mind feeding his captives. Gratefully, Kaoru sank to the floor beside the tray and reached for a piece of toast, her mouth watering at the sight. She hadn’t eaten since her luncheon with Kimi yesterday, and she was starving.
Himura watched Kaoru with the curiousness of a young child visiting the zoo for the very first time. His inquisitive gaze followed her every movement from the moment she first nibbled on the buttered toast to the moment she drank her fill of the cold milk. He wasn’t used to company. The only men he ever truly visited, if one could even call it a visit, were the men his boss hired to work alongside him. There were the occasional loose women, but they didn’t like to visit much.
Kaoru idly sipped the ice-cold, delicious milk from the glass as she held the bowl of oatmeal to her chest, expecting the food to be taken from her the moment she set it back down on the tray, even if she wasn’t exactly finished with her breakfast. It was delicious, the oatmeal especially. The only strange thing about the oatmeal was that it had been made from scratch. It wasn’t a store brand. Kaoru knew what good, homemade oatmeal tasted like. Her mother used to make it. She couldn’t believe Himura would go to the trouble of making her a homemade meal, not that she was complaining. It just seemed so out of his character. Of course, she supposed she didn’t know Himura anymore than he knew her. She didn’t plan to get to know him, though. Once she found an opportunity to escape, she would take it.
“What?” Kaoru asked uneasily as she looked at Himura, noticing for the first time how close he stood to her sitting form, his gaze intense and interestingly so. “Do I have a few crumbs stuck between my teeth?” Sarcastically, Kaoru narrowed her eyes. Himura was making her uneasy just by staring down at her so intently. She was afraid to ask him what was on his mind, his assassin’s mind.
When Himura would have answered her, the loud, harsh sound of a man’s voice filled in the space. Cursing under his breath, knowing exactly who that voice belonged to, he cast Kaoru a heated glare full of warning. “Stay here, and don’t show yourself. I don’t know what I’d do if Isurugi saw you.” He heaved a heavy sigh of irritation as he departed from the spare bedroom, easing the door closed behind him as soon as he could.
Kaoru absently stared after Himura’s retreating back, not sure of what just happened, but as soon as he closed the door on her once again, she snapped out of her trance. Scrambling up from the floor, ignoring the silver tray she knocked out of her way as she stood, Kaoru jogged towards the door. Curiosity caused her to try the lock, and she was surprised to find the door left unlocked. Himura was becoming clumsy in his desire to keep her confined to this bedroom. Her eyes narrowed in thought, she allowed the door to open on its own accord, wincing slightly at the soft squeaking of the hinges as the door leisurely swung open. When she trained her eyes on the farthest door facing her along the oddly lengthy hallway, she couldn’t believe how large the man who came calling on Himura was.
His hulking figure took up the entire doorway.
And his voice seemed to be just as large and just as deep as his overly hefty build.
His voice carried all the way down the hallway and right into the spare bedroom Kaoru had no choice but to occupy.
“Takeda mentioned you had a woman here. He said something about the key. Is she the little brat those assholes were after years ago?”
“Yes, but she isn’t little anymore.”
If Kaoru didn’t know any better, she would say that Himura was just a mite irritated with his companion. His words fare dripped with frustration. Glaring heatedly at the smaller of the two men, Kaoru pursed her lips rigidly over her clenched teeth as she fought back the retort that almost immediately sprang to her lips. At least he admitted to her maturing, but to still refer to her as a brat…
“Oh, the girl has grown up, then? What’s she look like? Have you gotten a taste of her yet?”
Her blue eyes darkened furiously as she balled her hands tightly into fists. Now, they were talking about her as though she was some common whore. If their little conversation didn’t soon lean in a different direction, there was no telling what she might do. Above all else, she despised being referred to as a woman who would spread her legs for just about any man who asked her to, especially seeing how that didn’t even come close to the truth.
“A woman is a woman. They don’t look any different to me,” Himura tetchily stated. “And I haven’t touched her at all, at least not in the way you’re thinking.”
“But you plan to?”
“No.”
“What the hell’s the matter with you, Battousai? You have a woman in your house, and yet you won’t do shit with her?”
“That is not why I brought her here. My strict orders were to obtain the key and to use any means necessary to get it. Kamiya hasn’t bothered to hand it over yet, so I won’t let her go until she does.”
“You’re letting her go?” Isurugi asked in disbelief as he leaned slightly against the doorframe, ignoring its squeaking protest at his unusually heavy weight. “I’ve never known you to let a victim go. What’s gotten into you lately?”
Himura’s features darkened in aggravation as his golden hues flashed an irritable, violent amethyst. He greatly disliked Isurugi Raijuuta despite the fact that the two men worked for the same, wealthy employer and that on many occasions, they both had to bail each other out of tight situations. Isurugi enjoyed butting into other people’s affairs, a trait that could easily get him killed. Not that Isurugi had anything to worry about; the only person who didn’t tremble in Raijuuta’s large, intimidating presence was Himura, aside from their boss of course.
“I was not given permission to touch her in such a fashion, and I do not wish to ruin her virtue—“
“She’s a virgin? How the fuck would you know if you never tried to—ah, wait a minute. You did try to screw around with her, didn’t you? Now that’s the assassin I know.”
“Isurugi,” Himura warned in a tightly controlled voice that was begging to be given permission to reach for the anger just below the surface. It wasn’t like him to get so annoyed over Isurugi making such crude remarks. What more could he expect from the bastard? “You don’t know a damn thing about me. She’s barely a woman, and my orders do not rely on me bedding her. I don’t see a reason to if it won’t help me in my cause.”
“Oh, well, then, do you mind if I—“ Isurugi was cut off by the frightening intensity in which Himura regarded him, as if he meant to warn Raijuuta away from this woman. No words were exchanged between the two, but Himura didn’t need to voice his warning. It was shown perfectly in the way he watched Isurugi. “Eh, fine, then. What about the key? Have you decided how you want to go about taking it from her? It seems to me as though you don’t want to hurt the broad.”
Silence was Isurugi’s only answer for Himura’s attention was drawn elsewhere. Following the heated intensity of his fellow assassin’s gaze to where the slender form of who he supposed was Kamiya stood in the doorway of the very last bedroom down the lengthy hallway, Raijuuta’s lips curved into a cold smile. So, this was the woman Himura refused to indulge himself in.
Stupid, ruthless bastard.
If he held such a delectable-looking woman, with her radiant, indigo-blue eyes, fair complexion, and long, straight, ebony hair, in his possession, he would have already ruined her innocence; that is if she could even be called a virgin.
“That her, eh? Not bad, Himura, not bad at all.”
Himura’s golden eyes darkened furiously as he trained them on Raijuuta. If the man wasn’t careful in what he said, Himura would have to mutilate him, starting with his annoying sneer. He was confused as to the reason why he felt compelled to beat Isurugi into a bloody pulp for simply suggesting that he wanted to punish Kaoru in such a manner. That would exactly be what bedding a woman such as Kamiya Kaoru would be called; a punishment. Himura couldn’t have that. She was their captive simply because of her key. She wasn’t here to entertain any men.
Kaoru’s blue eyes, clashing with the frightening lust she easily witnessed in Raijuuta’s smirking gaze, widened. If the lust Raijuuta expressed was anything to go by, he planned to crawl beneath the sheets with her, whether she was willing or not.
And she was certainly not willing.
When Isurugi menacingly stepped forward, his dark eyes glittering with lustful wickedness, Kaoru instantly retreated back into the bedroom. She should not have opened the door in the first place. Curse her curiosity. If Isurugi planned to bed her, and if Himura decided to let him, then, Kaoru could do nothing. The choice wasn’t hers. Raijuuta was too strong for her to defend herself against. Of course, she would still fight him although her attempt to escape would be futile, but she wouldn’t take defeat lying down no matter the circumstances.
“Isurugi.”
The unmistakable fury in which Himura spoke the other man’s name surprised Kaoru.
“While she is in my care, I will not allow you to throw yourself at her.”
Kaoru’s lips parted in shock. Himura was, dare she think it, protecting her? Why would he care to protect her? She was only his captive for the purpose of his boss, whoever that man happened to be, obtaining her key. She figured allowing some huge man such as Raijuuta deflowering her would help the assassin in his cause.
Apparently, he did not think so.
“Damn it, Himura, why the hell would you care? I was looking forward to fucking the little—“
“Why are you here, Isurugi?” Himura’s calmly bitter voice interrupted Raijuuta’s harsh assessment of what he had intended to do.
Thoughtfully, Raijuuta scratched his growing, four days worth of beard. Indeed, he came calling on Himura under strict orders from Takeda Kanryuu. He had forgotten all about that when he had glimpsed the woman who held the key in her custody. The desire to bring Kamiya under his control was partially quenched, at least for the time being. “Takeda wants the key, and he sent me to ask you when you intend to give it to him.”
“I don’t work for Takeda.”
“Is that what you want me to tell him?”
The incredulity that briefly crossed Raijuuta’s harsh, ruthless features earned a grunt of annoyance and a flashing of amber from Himura in return. Raijuuta merely chuckled as he folded his arms across his broad chest in a gesture of calm laziness. “Ah, well, it’s your funeral, buddy. I suppose Takeda won’t take to heart your disobedience, but he will be expecting the key.”
“You don’t work for Takeda, Isurugi. Explain yourself.” The command was cold and dispassionate, but there was no mistaking the fury thrumming through Himura’s body at the prospect that there might be a traitor in their syndicate.
“Takeda works alongside Kogoro now. I thought you knew,” Raijuuta said, shrugging his shoulders carelessly.
Himura’s burgundy brows furrowed with confusion. He found it strange that he hadn’t known of their boss’s newest companionship with the greedy Takeda. Even stranger was the fact that Isurugi was the first to tell him. Glaring crossly at the other man, Himura frowned.
“Ah, so, you weren’t told. How odd,” Raijuuta murmured as his lips curled into a smile, one that didn’t quite meet his eyes. “I would have thought you would be the first to know. Well, now that you do know, what should I tell Takeda about the key now?”
Isurugi was greeted by Himura’s frustration, nothing more.
“You still want me to tell him that you don’t work for him, then?”
Silence.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Hey, Himura, I have places to be, so I’m going to go, but I will be back. And I think I‘ll go say good bye to that woman you’re selfishly keeping locked away.” Chortling as Himura regarded him darkly, rage mounting, Raijuuta murmured a farewell before he turned on his heels and walked through the dining room doorway and along the foyer, exiting the log cabin Kogoro had given Himura when he had become an assassin for the man eight years ago.
Raijuuta would definitely be back.
Silence, yet again, filled the spacious, tidy log cabin.
Kaoru poked her head out of the room, hoping that Isurugi had truly left as he said he would. Once satisfied that the big, unnerving man was gone, Kaoru stepped into the dimly lit hallway. Himura stood at the beginning of the hallway, where his dinning room led towards the cabin’s bedrooms. His rigid back faced her. He had yet to move. If she didn’t know any better, she would say that his breathing had stopped as well.
It hadn’t.
She knew that the minute Himura’s narrowed, terrifyingly golden hues fastened on her wary form.
“He’s gone.”
She already knew that, but somehow hearing Himura say that the man had left the house calmed her slightly frazzled nerves. The two stood facing one another, each on opposite ends of the hallway, eyes locked, emotions well hidden or as hidden as they possibly could be for Kaoru’s sake. They dared not move for fear of breaking contact. Kaoru’s gaze wavered slightly when she noticed the eerie flickering of Himura’s eyes as his golden orbs darkened.
Surprisingly, Himura was the first to look away. Kaoru had no time to praise herself before he turned his back on her. She didn’t like his rude gesture; it was almost as though he was rejecting her presence. Why she should care one way or another whether his opinion of her was high or low Kaoru didn’t know. What she did know was the fact that she didn’t like the feeling of rejection Himura bestowed upon her.
Kaoru pursed her lips in bewilderment.
“Don’t go anywhere. I have to make a phone call.” And that was his way of warning her against any thoughts of escape. As if she would even try. She already knew she stood no chance in outrunning him, especially if he hunted her down with his sword in tow. Wordlessly, Kaoru returned to the room. She refused to answer any command no matter who issued it.
Himura entered the spacious, neat kitchen while a raging, black storm followed in his wake. His body was taut with the restlessness coursing through his veins. Calmly wrapping his calloused fingers around the receiver, Himura dialed his boss’s number with swift ease. He drummed his fingers against the ivory surface of his kitchen counter impatiently, absently staring down at the faucet as it constantly dripped water, waiting for his boss to heed his call. The soft tapping of the water as it met the silver, hard bowl one would call a sink each time the faucet allowed it passage was beginning to grate on Himura’s last nerves.
The phone still rang sharply as Himura listened in anticipation of his boss picking up the black, cordless phone he owned. The water still dripped, the annoying sound combining with that of the humming of the dial tone.
He was fast becoming highly annoyed.
The phone kept ringing.
The water kept dripping.
Finally, when he could take it no more, Himura turned the knob that would swiftly cut the flow of the water off, his features contorted with annoyance.
Then, a voice decided to heed his call.
“Sir?”
Himura didn’t have to wait long before he could jump right in and explain why he was calling his boss’s house at such an early hour when Katsura was the one who usually called his employees.
“I’m beginning to doubt Isurugi’s loyalty.”
A short pause soon filled the calm, peaceful atmosphere his cabin always granted him every night after an assassination. Although, tension now sparked threateningly in the air from Raijuuta’s unwanted visit.
“Well, he hasn’t gone against your orders, if that’s what you want to know. He visited me this morning.”
Himura frowned deeply into the receiver. Kogoro was acting rather strange. Usually, when he would voice an opinion of his own, his boss would readily listen to it then make the important decision. This morning, Kogoro Katsura acted as though Isurugi’s loyalty did not matter to him.
“Yes. The girl is here. Listen, Sir—“ Himura paused long enough to heave a soft sigh of impatience. “But he says you now work with Takeda.”
Another pause.
“So, it’s true then? Why?” Himura’s brows creased with puzzlement.
“Yes, yes, the key is with her. Sir, why have you agreed to work with Takeda? What? Wait, Mr. Kogoro,” Himura tried desperately to reach his boss before Kogoro hung up on him; he would even plead if he had to, but Katsura wasn’t fully listening to him. He was beginning to think Katsura was avoiding telling him the true reason for joining forces with Takeda Kanryuu on purpose.
“I don’t mean to question your decisions, Sir. I understand completely. I apologize for my rudeness. Another assignment? Bring the girl with me? Why?”
He paused once more, but only for a short while.
“Yes, Sir, Tuesday evening, I understand. Again, I apologize for interrupting your morning.”
Himura slammed the receiver down, impatience and irritation gnawing at his mind. He didn’t know what Katsura could be thinking to even consider joining forces with the greedy bastard, Takeda. He knew for certain that all Takeda was after was Katsura’s power. That Himura could never allow Takeda to have. He would kill the filthy asshole before the man would even have a chance to grasp it. Such power would be dangerous in the hands of men like Takeda Kanryuu.
What puzzled him the most about the entire ordeal was the fact that Katsura chose not to listen to him. Odd.
Sighing, Himura gradually took a seat at the round, small kitchen table situated in the center of the kitchen, his wary, guarded eyes narrowed in thought. Katsura had interrupted his concern for Isurugi’s loyalty several times, mostly to question the whereabouts of Kaoru and her key. He could understand his boss’s anxiousness to get his hands on what treasure the key guarded, but to ignore his opinions as though he had never spoken them…
“What is on your mind, Kogoro? What do you have planned?”
Himura wished he knew. But he didn’t.
The gentle sound of cotton material treading along the hallway towards the kitchen pulled at Himura’s troubled thoughts. If this was her idea of sneaking about, she would definitely have to practice at it. As soon as the sound ceased, a faint smile curved Himura’s lips absentmindedly. She obviously thought she hadn’t been heard. Well, he would allow her to play her game.
And her game was simple. Determination forcing her sparkling blue orbs to narrow as she cautiously peeked around the corner of the hallway, through the doorway, and into the kitchen, Kaoru chewed on her lower lip warily. She knew how frustrated Himura was from Isurugi’s unexpected visit. Having heard bits and pieces of his conversation with who she supposed was his boss over the phone; she knew that he wasn’t in much of a good mood.
Well, she planned to fix that.
She didn’t know why, but she had the sudden urge to at least attain one smile from Himura, even if it were a small one and distant. He had defended her honor in his own, outlandish way, and no longer did she completely fear her situation though she was cautious and wary of it. Himura didn’t have much to smile about, she would wager, but she intended to force some form of smile from him, even a grimace if that was all he could bear.
Silently, she rounded the corner.
He sat at the wooden, kitchen table, his sturdy back facing her.
Her eyes drifting closed, Kaoru waited patiently as she fought back the fear that threatened to overcome her senses. There was no reason to fear Himura. Well, there was, but she knew he didn’t mean her any harm. At least the aura felt right. Focusing her attention on the red-haired assassin, Kaoru was prepared to greet him when she was suddenly shocked into silence by the pair of faintly glowing, golden hues watching her closely.
“Is there something you need, Kamiya?”
Yes.
Courage.