Kabuki

A/N: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don\'t own Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai X, etc.

---

Kabuki




‘It’s crowded tonight,’ Kaoru thought as she peeked around the curtains into the crowd of hollering and rowdy men. She was not they only one surprised when they had made their initial walk around the stage to see so many men. First to walk out was Oshizu, their most experienced member, who flirted and pranced around the stage.




Tae and Sae followed, dancing around each other as they rounded the stage, and then little Tsubame. The girl was no more than twelve years old, barely into her own adolescence, who shyly walked across the stage, but still one of their most popular features.




Iroha charged the stage, initiating her own sort of battle cry, bringing on a roar of approval as she jumped and cart wheeled her way off stage. Next was Okuni, slinking her way across the stage, flicking her sash at the men playfully. And finally it was Kaoru’s turn.




She walked across the stage bearing a sash and her two swords, crossing her arms under her chest as she took a stance of purpose in the middle of the stage to announce the night’s performances.




“Gentlemen, and not so gentle men,” she called out, earning a few hoots and laughs. “We are so glad to see you all here tonight. We’ve got a great show for you, so sit back, relax, and welcome to the Kabuki!”




Kabuki, which essentially means to goof off, was performed by women mostly, and consisted chiefly of erotic nude dancing. There were a few bar songs and true theatrical sketches intermittent, but the men only came to watch the ladies touch themselves.




Iroha and Okuni went on first, each carrying a bottle of sake, and began fooling around. A kiss here, a caress there, and then out of nowhere, a bar song. It was a common song, so most of the audience joined in, some pulling a bottle of sake that was hidden in their own robes.



Tsubame went on next, dressed full in western wear, looking even more like a child. She did her own innocent little strip tease, taking off one piece at a time, which was apparently too agonizingly slow for one audience member. He hopped up on stage and grabbed little Tsubame by the arm and began fondling her.



Out of nowhere, two fairly thick young men took hold of him on each side, and none too gently removed him from stage, as well as the premises. Tsubame, with a professional air about her, simply smile.



“I guess he got a little excited,” she said, laying on the innocence. She got a few laughs and whistles, and continued on her little strip show.



Next out was Oshizu, though the most experienced, still only a mere twenty eight years of age. She also entered the stage fully clothed, but she wore the traditional kimono of the east, dressed as if she were the wife of the emperor himself.



She seemed to also do a strip tease of her own, but was soon joined on stage with a very capable young man, looking somewhere in her age range. He helped her strip down slowly, but as an added feature at the end, they enjoyed a romantic copulation.



Kaoru’s curtain call was coming up next, and she needed to get in costume. This was their second to last bit, something to…relieve the audience after such a feverish spectacle, showcasing of the sword skill of Kaoru, along with some gratuitous nudity. Tonight they were reenacting the breakout of the Ikeda Inn incident that signaled the ShinSenGumi’s Great Return; also known as the day before the Kyoto fire.



“Kaoru, hurry up!” Tae hissed, standing ‘in costume,’ ready to enter from stage right. Once she and Sae were on stage, Tsubame would enter to take their order, and the real show would begin. Kaoru was to enter, full body armor of the ShinSenGumi, catching them off guard, and easily slay them.



Tae and Sae wore only a single outer robe, and Tsubame only an apron, but clothes were an uncommon thing in the Kabuki. Kaoru, one of the few girls to actually wear any form of decent attire, would lug her heavy costume on stage, performing the series of false attacks.



Tae, Sae, and Tsubame would fall to the ground, slain, and Kaoru would walk to the end of the stage. She’d light a cigarette after a successful kill, the trademark of the Wolf of Mibu, that she would discard and set the stage alight, signaling the end of the act.



That is, that was how it was supposed to go, if Kaoru ever got into the damned costume. “I swear, this thing never gets easier to put on.”



On a whim, Kaoru decided to just don the gi, sash, and swords, and made her entrance. The looks on the faces of the girls was genuine surprise, and the howls of the men made it known they liked this sort of ad-libbing.



“Kill. Evil. Instantly,” she said, and then charged the two older girls. Her moves were immaculate, practiced twice a day everyday. In a few moments, the scene was over, and Kaoru walked to the end of the stage to light her cigarette. She never even got the chance to light the match.



“Everybody freeze!”



The doors buckled in on themselves as dozens of police officers swarmed into the dojo that they had been using as a theatre. Men went running every which way, including on stage, and knocking Kaoru into the scuffle on the ground.



‘Shit!’ she thought as she scrambled to get up. ‘I can’t get caught, and I can’t leave the other girls.’



She looked up to see Tae and Sae each hauling Tsubame by an arm backstage, being followed by three police men. She jumped back up on stage and charged the men, knowing that she couldn’t really hurt them; her swords were just props, and the edge had been dulled off of them years before.



A few short swipes later the men were down for the count, but she had earned her fair share of attention from the rest of the police, she caught Tae’s eye, and nodded at her to go out the back, waving that she’d catch up later. She turned around to see ten men blocking her way, and swallowed hard.



“I see you like to cross dress and reenact scenes that could be considered treasonous to our newly founded government,” a man said, from behind the crowd of policemen. “Although one must look twice to tell your gender in such costume.”



“We’re just performers trying to earn our living,” she yelled, infuriated by the banter of the unseen man. She was supposed to be playing a male role, but come on, she was falling out all over the place.



“Women are not allowed to perform in Kabuki, it is the law,” the man said flatly. “Therefore, you are under arrest.”



“Like hell I am,” she said, crouching into an attack stance, putting each officer on their guard, then took off running as fast as she could in the opposite direction. She hoped that Tae and the others were able to find safe haven from the streets, because dressed as they were, they would most likely be mistaken by the locals as prostitutes.



She knew nothing of the streets of Tokyo; the Kabuki traveled from town to town to lessen the likelihood of being arrested, but in such a big town, word travels quickly. She ran through the streets turning here and there, hoping not to dead end herself, listening for the sound of footsteps behind her to start fading.



She silently thanked her father for his discipline in making her maintain an athletic physique; she was finally starting to outrun the police. When she thought it safe, she ducked into an alleyway, pausing to calm her labored breath and gather her thoughts. She sunk herself deep into the shadows as the police ran past her, shouting frantically at each other for news.



She sat down on the ground to assess her situation, knowing that she needed to change her appearance to be able to walk through the streets unnoticed, but also knew that it was going to be near impossible due to her lack of clothing. She had a gi, a sash, a sakabatou and short sword, and a hair tie. In short, she stuck out like a sore thumb.



“What I wouldn’t give for a kimono right now,” she whispered to herself, taking off the swords and placing them on the ground. She pulled the tie from her hair and let the locks fall down over her shoulders, pulling the gi tighter around her shoulders as the late night Tokyo air started to make itself noticed.



A flashlight shone at her, and she stuck up one hand to block the harsh ray from her eyes. She didn’t move, not knowing who was approaching her, or how many, but unconsciously she reached for her sword slowly, her guard raised.



“What have we here?” asked a young man in police uniform. “I am out looking for a Kabuki female, stop to take a leak, and look what I find. A Kabuki female.”



Kaoru could see him a little better now, it was just one person, and it sounded like there wasn’t anyone else around within shouting distance. She tightened her grasp on the handle of her sword, and hopped into a fighting crouch once again, but this time she had no intention of bolting.



“So, the little female thinks she can beat me?” he said, turning off his flashlight and drawing his own sword. “Well, let’s see it.”



Kaoru charged him, knowing she was probably going to end up arrested and spend the night in jail, but if she was, she damn well was going to have a reason for it. Her swordsmanship must have surprised her opponent, allowing her to get a few good strikes in before he recovered.



Her father had taught her the moves necessary to perform in the Kabuki, but her interest in swordplay had prompted him to teach her further. A master of their family dojo before the war, he’d had much to teach her, and she had been a willing student for many years. Her skill was obvious fighting with the officer.



“If I am not mistaken, I believe I am beating you,” Kaoru said, a small smile touching her face. She had him backed into a corner, working hard for his breaths.



“Looks to me like I misjudged earlier,” he said, lowering his sword slightly. “I did not find a Kabuki female.”



Kaoru raised her eyebrow in surprise at his movements, not believing for a second that he was going to give up. She narrowed her eyes as she watched him sheath his sword, staring at him as he looked up at her again. And then behind her.



She turned too late to block the blow, which cut her dominant arm from shoulder to elbow. The cut was not deep, but painful enough for her to drop her sword from the shock of it. Before she knew it, she was pinned against the wall.



“It looks to me like I found a prostitute,” the first officer said, walking over to her and running his fingers over her ripped gi. “What do you think, Shouta?”



The other officer caught his drift and grinned. “I agree, Bunzo. No decent woman would be running around at this time of night with such attire.”



“Stop it!” Kaoru cried, alarmed that the officers were now fondling her and giving her the same leery looks that the men who got ejected from the audience had. “I am not a prostitute!”



“Well, you sure look like it,” Bunzo said, ripping the gi off of her shoulder. “And it’s your word against ours. Who’s going to believe a woman over a police officer?”



“I would.”



Both men froze, the low voice surprising the both of them. Shouta nodded to Bunzo, who tightened his grip on the sniffling girl while Shouta reached for his sword. When Shouta turned around to face his opponent, he saw no one. The alleyway was deserted save the three of them.



“Where’d he go?” Shouta asked as he turned around to face Bunzo, who shrugged. Bunzo’s eyes suddenly grew wide, and Shouta felt a cool breeze behind him, then nothing as he fell to the ground out cold. In his place stood the man who rendered him unconscious, still hidden by the shadows.



“I would suggest that you let the young lady go,” the shadowed samurai said, unmoving.



“Sure,” Bunzo said, releasing Kaoru, who fell to her knees sobbing. Bunzo drew his own sword, taking on a fighting stance. “I’ll get a promotion for sure for bringing in this whore and a sword carrying, wannabe hero who attacked a police officer.”



The shadowed man did not retort, only sheathed his sword and took on his own fighting stance. Bunzo grinned, then charged the man, aiming to take an overhead slash at him, but lost sight of him. Without warning, the air rushed from his lungs as he heard the cracking of bones, then the onslaught of pain throughout his chest.



He fell to the ground wheezing, unable to take a full breath, pushing himself onto his back to help alleviate the pain to his chest, seeing the samurai step up next to him. He could not see his features clearly, but could tell that he wore a light colored gi, had long unruly hair, and possibly a scar on the side of his face.



The samurai stepped out of his field of vision, and he heard the footsteps walk closer to the sound of the sobbing girl, the rustling of clothes, then the footsteps retreating further into the night. Bunzo last thoughts before loosing consciousness were of how he was ever going to explain this to his superior.



**~~**



Kaoru’s sobs had begun to subside when the samurai walked over to her, but she was still too distraught to formulate words when he reached his hand out to her. She just stared at it, her good arm tightly clutched over the wound on her other arm. Finally, the samurai leaned down and picked her up, carrying her away from the two downed officers.



She had no idea where he was taking her, but she just relished in the fact that he was a warm body, so far not hostile, and then there was his appearance. He had long, wild red hair that was trapped at the neck with a small tie, his gi had at one time been red, but now had faded into a soft pink color. And then there was that peculiar scar on his cheek.



Kaoru stared at the X shaped scar in fascination. After a few minutes, she noticed that he was also staring at her at a side glance, and she blushed as she looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring. He shifted her in his arms and she yelped, her arm still very tender to any type of movement. He whispered his apologies, and Kaoru looked up at him again.



“Where are we going?” she asked in a quiet voice.



“Away from the searching officers,” he said. The silence stretched on for a few minutes.



“I can walk now,” she said almost reluctantly, and he complied, standing her on her feet. She was shivering almost immediately; the gi had been torn almost completely down one side.



The rustling of clothing made her look up from her torn clothes to the man in front of her. He was taking off his own gi, and folding it. He placed it on the ground, then began untying the bindings at his waist.



A cold feeling overtook Kaoru as she watched him. Was this man planning on taking advantage of her too? She looked around at where they were; it was a shabbier part of town, and as far as she could see, there was no one in sight.



“Come here,” he said, reaching out to her. She stepped back, but he caught her bad arm and she squealed. “Shh.”



“Let go!” she hissed, trying to break his grip from her. Her squirming got her nowhere, and she found herself pinned to a wall again. She scrunched her eyes shut, her breathing becoming erratic. She felt him pulling the rest of the gi off of her, and him twisting her arm around in his direction.



“This wouldn’t hurt so much if you would just hold still,” he said, and she felt soft cloth pressing against her wound. She opened her eyes and looked at her arm, seeing him gently run the ruined cloth over the cut to wipe away the excess blood. He then began wrapping the wound with the bindings that he had removed earlier.



Once finished, he picked up his gi, shook it out, and placed it over her shoulders. He gave her a half smile as he did so, and she blushed again, but this time it was not a fit of embarrassment that made her do so.



“Thank you,” she said, smiling back.



“You are quite welcome, Miss,” he said, turning to leave and let her go her own way.



“Kaoru,” she said after a moment, watching him pause and turn back to face her. “My name is Kaoru.”



“It is a beautiful name,” he said, making her blush harder. He turned to leave again, and Kaoru felt quite exposed, despite the clothes he had given her. She had no idea where she was, nor how to get to where she needed to be.



“Um, excuse me,” she said, taking chase. “But where am I?”



“You are not familiar with Tokyo?” he asked as he faced her again. She shook her head negative. “Do you have somewhere to go?”



“Yes,” she said, looking around. “I am supposed to meet the rest of my family at the Akabeko…but I do not know how to get there.”



“Then I shall take you there,” he said, smiling again, and Kaoru couldn’t help but think that he had a way of making someone feel very comfortable in his presence.



“Thank you,” she said gratefully, smiling brightly in return. “I owe you so much, sir.”



“Please,” he said, extending his hand to her to lead the way. “Call me Kenshin.”

---

A/N: Well, what do you think? Yay? Nay? Anyways, if anyone can offer up a better summary, please do. Review!