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Amber Horizons	By : vampmistress76 Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 5093 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Amber Horizons

- Chapter 18 -

Seppuku

Saitou glanced back to see if Misao was obeying his orders, and sure enough there she was hopping out of the carriage, doing the exact opposite of what he wanted. He stooped slightly, bringing his blade up, unsheathing the metal weapon, almost tempted to lick it to see if he could shake the young men who were about to face Mibu's wolf.

He wasn't going to be able to watch her, damn.

In the blink of an eye, the men charged, seemingly all at once. Misao swallowed hard, but steeled her resolve. Saitou didn't even blink as he raised his sword.

She gasped, skidding backwards as she narrowly avoided one of the katana-toting men. She growled as she was pressed back against the carriage, her hands held tightly beneath the hands of the man holding the sword. Her kunai littered the ground from where she'd dropped them as she tried to hold off the man charging with the sword.

She brought her knee up, hitting him hard in the crotch. The sword clattered to the ground and he doubled over. She brought her foot up, slamming it into his chin and he flew backwards, hitting the ground.

Ahead of her Saitou, loomed. The movement that began all at once seemed to stop. She stared at his sword, pointed toward the ground, blood dripping off the tip.

His back was so stiff, she thought. Her head whipped around as she sensed movement. She brought her hands up, gasping when she found her kunai still on the ground. She moved into a kenpo stance, determined to fight off her attacker.

Since when couldn't Makimachi Misao take one singular man, she thought with a sneer.

"Little bitch," he growled. He lunged, his hands wrapping around her wrists.

Her eyes widened as his hands tightened.

Her vision dimmed and tinted.

Wha-?

What?

What was this?

Her mouth fell open as she desperately began to gasp for air. Her throat tightened, her heart rate speeding up drastically as she felt herself being shoved backward, her back connecting painfully with the hard surface of the coach. Her eyes widened as she felt a hand fall hard against her face before her wrists were brought up painfully to be held above her head, a muscular body moving to press her against the stage harder. She sucked in a deep breath, her voice... her mind, cracking as she let loose an almost tortured scream.

The sound caught Saitou's attention, his eyes darting in the direction that Misao's cry had come from. He felt his heart instantly clench at the sight before he was caught off guard as another of the men clobbered him with a fist to the side of his head. Shaking it off, Saitou forced his attention back to the fight, hoping to dispatch the remainder of the brutes so that he would be free to lend Misao assistance.

Meanwhile, Misao's mind had blanked out the moment she was shoved back by the overenthusiastic man. Then suddenly, images began to flash before her eyes. Slowly at first, but gradually picking up speed, memory after memory emerged. From the first moment Koji had grabbed her, following through the actual heinous act...

"....don't worry, pet, I'm not going to hurt you. This is our special time."

'No!' She thought, 'No, it can't... It can't happen. Not again!'

She brought her legs up, kicking wildly. She felt herself make contact once and then twice more before the hands holding her dropped away. She pushed away from the carriage, bringing her leg up once more. She heard a grunt from the impact and felt the body move away from her. She swooped to the ground, diving for her kunai, swiping a handful of the throwing knives in both hands.

She could feel the dirt sliding from her fingers, her kunai digging into her palms as she gripped them tightly, the points jutting out in random directions. Her mind racing, she laced them through her fingers and leapt forward at the same time that the man moved toward her once more. Her fist impacted with his chest once, ineffectively and she dropped the kunai. Whirling around she brought her other hand around, feeling the slice of flesh and the splatter of wet warmth against her fist.

Blood.

He was bleeding.

'Good....'

The man gasped, a horrid, hollow sound. She trembled as the man hunched over, collapsing to his knees.

'Die...'

She felt tears gather in her eyes, her vision blurring.

'...die...'

She grit her teeth and raised the hand with the kunai, feeling blood drip down her wrist.

"DIE!!!"

Saitou's head jerked around from the last of the slain bandits at Misao's scream, his eyes landing a most horrible sight.

Misao, sobbing hysterically, repeating her death mantra with each downward swoop of her kunai-filled hands. She sat astride the by now mutilated body of her assailant as she continued to stab the corpse repeatedly. Over and over and over again.

Saitou approached slowly, watching as her body stilled, tears spilling down pink stained cheeks. Her eyes were puffy and red rimmed, blood stained her clothes, her wrists, her hands... Her kunai was tinted a deep shade of red. He took one step and then another watching, his emotions ranging somewhere between fascination and horror as she brought a hand up to her face, streaking her cheeks with blood as she tried to wipe away the tears...

...only to realize her hands were wet and she stared down at them, her face scrunched up into an expression beyond horror. Her brows drew down and her temporary cease of tears ended. She buried her face in her tear stained hands, the kunai fallen by the way of the ground.

"Misao?"

She didn't respond, continuing to hide her face.

"Misao?" He tried again.

This time she drew her hands down just slightly, peeking at him between her fingertips and her bangs, trying to hide her teary eyes. He stepped nearer toward the fallen man and reached out a hand toward her, saying nothing. She dropped her hands completely, her bottom lip quivering. He held the hand out toward her worldessly for several achingly slow minutes until she lifted her hand. Blood smeared across his palm as he squeezed her fingers yanking her effortlessly from her victim and into his arms.

She collapsed against him.

She broke down completely, her face burying itself in the front of his uniform, staining its front with even more blood as she sobbed her helplessness into the dark material. Unable to summon words, not even knowing where to start in order to comfort this distraught, fragile creature he held in his arms, Saitou finally settled on remaining silent, holding her tightly to him as she cried.

~*~

A few days later...

Kamiya Dojo

*Knock Knock*

"Misao... are you awake?"

Silence was Kaoru's only answer, causing the older woman to frown in disappointment. Since she and Yahiko had returned from their trip, and Kenshin had filled her in on what all had happened during her absence, Misao had confined herself to her room upon her return from the trip with Saitou. Worriedly, Kaoru bit her lips as she turned away, retreating to the kitchen in order to assist Kenshin with breakfast.

Within the room, the slight form lay curled upon the futon. Midnight hair, unbound from its normal braid, pooled around Misao like a black satin covering. Her jade gaze remained focused on the shoji as she slowly worked through the chaotic turmoil that dominated her thoughs and emotions. Memories of what she had done replayed over and over in her mind, the expression of shock upon the man's blood smeared face. The coppery smell of his blood. Everywhere. She had done that to him, in her panicked state of rememberance, she had ended his life.

And oddly, she felt no remorse.

It had struck her that her tears she had shed into Saitou's chest, hadn't been for the man she had just slain, nor were they for the loss of her innocence at the hands of an overzeleous admirer. No. Her tears had been for Saitou's wife. For Tokio, she had shed those tears. For the woman who had lived and loved and had lost it all in a random act of violence. And they had been worth it. She felt as if with every tear she'd cried, another piece of the burden that had lain on her heart since that fateful day, had been washed away. And now, she could move on. She could pick up her shattered dignity and pursue perhaps another course that would lead her to happiness.

A small smile crept onto Misao's lips as she came to a resolution. Rising to her feet, she dressed in a casual kimono, not bothering to braid her hair as she usually did. Smoothing out the cloth, she looked into the small, round mirror on the wall and fully appreciated the sight she saw. A young woman... still full of life... and now, with a reason to live it.

Turning from the mirror, Misao exited her room, entering the kitchen to pull aside a surprised Kaoru. They spoke briefly in hushed whispers before Kaoru startled Kenshin by exclaiming happily. The rurouni looked at the two women curiously, but was given no answer as Kaoru hugged Misao to her before releasing her and allowing the young ninja to leave the dojo.

Once outside, Misao looked up at the morning sky a moment, sighing in satisfaction, before making her way toward town.

~*~

Saitou let the cigarette hang loosely from the corner of his lips while he stared at the papers on his desk. When he'd first come in that morning to a cluttered desk two things had registered.

One: unauthorized persons were in his office without consent. Two: His absence, however short, had already lead to the slackening of rules.

Which, upon his return, he'd already fixed. The entire office had been dressed down and scolded, namely for the mess on his desk, and the general chaos on the main floor and, more importantly, the apparent firing of his secretary which led to the said mess. He'd spent all of twenty minutes trying to organize into piles and within the last hour had finally gotten around to reading what was what.

The Blue Creek case was foremost on his mind and presently those papers sat before him, black ink staring up at him mockingly. The men from the roadside 'incident' had been taken by the police and interrogated. The last he'd seen of them, the battered men still living had been half dress and shackeled, with their heads shamefully drooped. His trip to the next town over had been unnecessary since the men involved in the carriage attack had been the very ones he had been looking for.

The captured men had been persuaded to cooperate and the crime ring was well on its way toward being shut down. He suspected it would be several more months until all the last rats were cleared away, but all in all his involvement was no longer necessary. Misao, however, was another matter. She'd returned to the Kamiya dojo and he hadn't seen her since. He'd thought about visiting when he wasn't swamped with visitors, paperwork, interrogations, or idiots, but he hadn't managed to get himself over there. He would, eventually.

Well, eventually was probably a much shorter period of time than it sounded. Now that the Blue Creek mission was over she would be returning to Kyoto.

Kyoto.

The word filled him with an utter sense of dread. Her home was in Kyoto, but that wasn't the only thing there. One tall, ice-block, former Okashira also lived there. Sure, she'd said nothing was going on, and he believed her, but he didn't trust that bastard Shinomori for a moment. Question was, what could he do about it? He growled, pushing the thought away, puffing on his cigarette.

He could still recall the desperation in her tears, the tight fists of her hands tangled in his cloths, the bloodstains on her skin. The boss hadn't been especially happy with him over the carriage incident, but nothing had come of it. Although he doubted the chief would be agreeing to bringing her into a mission for quite a while. He wondered how she was doing. He didn't especially like her being over with the Battousai, but he figured that one was harmless.

The clear two tapped knock on the open wooden doorframe caused his eyes to shoot toward the visitor. His would-be scowl vanished.

"Finally up, eh?"

He figured she'd laid around in bed.

"May I come in?" Misao asked somewhat timidly.

He nodded curtly, motioning her forward with one gloved hand. Moving slowly into the office, Misao sank down into one of the straight back chairs provided for visitors and lacing her fingers together, rested her hands in her lap. Silence reigned within the small office until Misao broke it with a single sentence.

"I'm going back to the Aoiya tomorrow."

He pulled the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling stiffly. It had been expected news, but it didn't settle over him any better.

Misao watched as the Wolf of Mibu lit up another cigarette. She realized that the smell didn't bother her as bad as it once had, maybe because the nicotine addiction was part of what made Saitou, Saitou. It was one of the reasons she loved him.

"So, I just thought I'd stop by and let you know, you know? In case there was anything you needed before I did." She began, hoping that he might show some sign that he didn't want her to leave.

She was sorely disappointed.

"Why would I need you for anything?"

The words were almost like a physical blow. So much so that she visibly flinched, though it seemed Saitou didn't notice as he continued. "Was there anything else you needed?" Saitou asked her, realizing the silence that seemed to echo on through the office. "If not, close the door on your way out."

Misao blinked, the implications of where this was headed hitting her full force. He was just going to let her leave? To go back to the Aoiya without a word? After everything that had happened to her...to them...between them?

Oh, hell no!

"What the hell is your problem!?" Misao's voice rose to a shrill pitch.

Saitou winced as her tone rose in affliction. Finally looking up, he could see that his words had drawn blood, in those emerald depths.

"My problem?" Saitou retorted with a smirk. "And what makes you think that I have the problem, Itachi?"

Saitou folded his arms on his desk and gazed at her with his hardened amber eyes. His eyes were nearly as cold and uncaring as Aoshi's. The last thing she needed was another man anything like Aoshi. She scoffed aloud.

"What a waste of my time," She muttered to herself.

Saitou was clearly surprised at her tone. She brought her arms up, doing her best Saitou impression. This whole trip was a waste, she thought desparingly. How dare he make her feel like this? She stared at him coldly, her mind far away for a moment before she brought her arms down and sliding around behind her. Her fingertips touched the cool metal of her kunai, and she dropped her glare, grinning at him before hurling the throwing knives at him.

Saitou knocked aside the knives, turning fiery eyes in her direction, but before he could speak, she was already talking.

"I'll tell you what your damn problem is! Long before I got here you were acting funny, touchy and stuff. And now that the job's over, it's all, 'see you later, nice to know you' kind of thing?"

Saitou took a glance around his office, noting two kunai stuck in the back of his chair, a couple more on the desk, and three or four more on the floor.

"Destruction of police property... Attempted assault of a police officer ... Both are arrestable crimes, Itachi."

Misao scowled in fury, "Arrestable? Arrestable?! I'll show you arrestable!" She retorted in her frustrated anger.

With a few quick steps, the young ninja had leapt upon Saitou's desk, neatly stacked files and folders flew into a haphazard mess. Fisting her hands into the blue material of his uniform, Misao brought their faces within a few scant inches of one another's.

"How could you do this to me, Saitou! How?! How could you make me fall for you and then treat me like... like this!"

Her hands fisted in the material of his jacket, snagging and yanking. His eyebrow twitched at the brutal way she was treating his clothing, her words registering.

"And here I thought there couldn't possibly be a man in the world as bad as Aoshi-sama." She abruptly released him, as though disgusted.

Saitou growled. The girl talked too much. She moved to sit back, but he caught her by the collar of her uniform, much like she had his. He pulled and she tumbled off the desk, yelping as she fell into his lap.

For a moment, time stood still as wide green eyes stared back into intense, narrowed amber. An electrical current so tangible that both felt the prickling sensations filled the scant space between their faces as Misao's pert little nose brushed intimately with Saitou's sharp, angular one.

His breath was warm on her face, with the slightest hint of tobacco scenting the air. The tip of a soft pink tongue peeked out to moisten suddenly dry lips, a motion which drew the attention of dangerously gleaming eyes. The amber orbs lowered the direction of their gaze, settling upon a set of full lips that seemed to be begging to be kissed. Entranced green eyes followed a similar route, trailing downward until they settled upon thin lips that normally would be pursed into a stern expression of annoyance, but now were parted in a silently seductive invitation.

"There's an old saying, 'women should be seen and not heard', ever hear that?"

She growled at him, suddenly even more pissed off. He caught her wrists, pulling them down toward her lap and held them there with one of his hand. He raised the other to trace a gloved finger across her lips.

"Besides, I like womens' mouths... doing other things..." He drawled, his voice a perfect, silken caress.

He leaned forward, all but glowing with male pride as her tense limbs fell slack. His fingers loosed around her wrists as he leaned in to mingle his breath more intimately with hers. He slid his hand around, fingers gliding against the base of her neck, cradling the back of her head. Curling his fingers gently, he suddenly pulled her forward, her lips crashing against his. A heated gasp passed between her lips against his as he dropped the hand holding her wrists to slide along one creamy thigh.

Her kimono had gaped and hiked when she fell, revealing slim, soft legs he ached to touch. Her newly freed limbs crept stealthily up his chest to entwine themselves around his neck, drawing him into an almost needy embrace. She twisted, trying to get her legs so she could sit half way comfortably. He moved to help her, lifting her so she could press her knees further apart on either side of his thighs to settle comfortably in his lap. She arched herself against him softly and he groaned, the gruff sound sending shivers along her spine and she yearned to hear it again. She shifted her body once more, pressing against his lean form as a throbbing ache began to build within her.

His hands were large and hot against her skin, the palms of them resting against her thigh the backs against her kimono. She felt... good... hot and ... just all over good. Saitou, was making her feel this way. It had seemed like it had been forever since she felt good. As his hands reached the curve of her hip, there came a strong, prounounced knock at the office door. They separated slightly, their breath taxed.

"Sir?" A tenative voice called out and Saitou helped Misao to the floor, and watched her straighten herself quickly, looking more annoyed than panicked.

Saitou smirked at her before his amber eyes lit with the irritation he felt at the obviously incompetent fool who'd interrupted the intense moment between himself and Misao. Once he was sure the ninja girl had her clothes in order, he stalked to the door and yanked the door open, allowing the officer who had been about to knock again to stumble across the threshold, almost bumping into Saitou in the process.

"Ah! Excuse me, sir, I'm so sorry!" The man immediately began his apologies only to be silenced by the hand that Saitou held up, gesturing that he did not care to hear it.

"What do you want?"

"We have a situation, sir."

Saitou waited, patiently, for an explanation of the 'situation'. When the officer realized he was being waited on, he hurriedly continued, clearing his throat, and glancing at Misao nervously.

"Um, former officer Koji has been transferred from his cell to the local hospital after he attempted to commit seppuku. We think one of the other prisoners in the block smuggled the knife we found in his cell with him."

"Knife?" Saitou inquired.

"Small, sir... Very small. Um.. it's... um... I'm sorry, I don't know where it is presently."

"Ahou," Saitou growled, frowning as he moved back toward his desk. Glancing sharply back at the officer he had only one more question. "Is he still alive?"

The officer nodded slightly, "He is, but barely. He had lost alot of blood when we found him... it... looks pretty bad, sir."

"You think that looked bad? Try watching when one of your friends is spilling his entrails." The ex-Shinsingumi captain snarled, causing the lesser man to cower in the doorway. He would have continued to tear into the man if it had not been for Misao wordlessly grabbing his arm tightly.

He was about to wave the junior officer away when she spoke, eyes shining with something he wasn't enthusiastic about identifying.

"I want to go."

He glanced at her hands on his arm and then back to her. "What the hell for?"

Her expression changed to one of displeasure. It reminded him of his visit to the Aoiya to pick her up long before this fiasco that had further darkened his view of the world.

"If he's going to die I want to talk to him. I just... I don't have to explain myself to you." She whirled quickly toward the other man, releasing his arm. "Take me to Koji."

Saitou growled, loudly, and snagged the back of her collar and dragged her toward him. "You're not going anywhere."

Briefly, Misao's eyes filled with pain and hurt. For one instant Saitou could practically see the terrible sorrow reflect from deep within the girl's eyes. It was like staring upon her soul, open and bare, right there for all to see. But then, she blinked, bringing up her walls and her eyes narrowed, filling with fury to hide her pain.

"You arrogant asshole, you have no authority over me!" She demanded as she began to wriggle in his grasp.

Saitou simply tightened his grip. "The hell I don't, Itachi. You're not going to see Koji, and that's that."

She turned toward him rapidly and tried to hit him to loose herself, but he caught her fist and pushed her against the desk. With one menacing glance, the officer in the doorway made himself scarce.

At being pressed backwards, she seemed only to struggle harder. "Let me go! I have to go! How am I supposed to - What if he dies and I don't even get to say anything?! You have no right to tell me I can't see him, face to ugly face! I'm the one he hurt, me!"

For effect, she kicked him, hard, in the shin.

He grit his teeth and licked his dry lips. He stared at her a moment, his gaze hard and intense. Without warning he turned, gripping her tight by the upper arm and began walking, pulling, almost dragging her along.

"Hey!" she shouted indigantly. "Where are you taking me?"

"Where do you think, Itachi? We're going to see the prisoner. Now quit squirming and come on." He didn't even stop to look at her, adding. "The only way you're going to see that man is if I'm taking you there." With that, Saitou exited his office, Misao following somberly behind.

~*~

TBC...

~*~
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Amber Horizons