That Which Lingers

Chapter One: Signs of Unrest

“Didja hear?”

“Eh, hear what?”

“There were two more disappearances, over by the poor man’s district.”

“Damn, that’s five people in two weeks!”

The gruff voices, while ignored by the general masses, had caught the interest of one market goer. Placing her purchased produce into her wicker shopping basket, Kamiya Kaoru moved away from the grocer’s stall. Though, her sapphire eyes trailed over other various merchandise, her attention had shifted. Her ears fixed on the men’s conversation, as she listened in curiously.

“The police still haven’t got the guy either, can you believe it?” The man’s tone was laced with disgust. ”How disgraceful.”

“Haven’t found ‘em," the second man echoed incredulously. He gave a snort. His voice rose angrily as he spoke. “What kind of crap are they trying to pull!? It’s obvious who the damned murderer is!”

Giving up the pretense of shopping, Kaoru glanced towards the speakers.

Two men loitering in the space between stall, out of the flow of traffic. Their clothing, which might have been nice at one point, was worn with evidence of being darned. Most likely they were from the very district from which the people disappeared.

The man, who was the taller of the two, slammed a fist into his palm. The resounding smack startled half the people in the street. His violent gesture emphasized his point as he continued to speak. “It’s that bastard Hitokiri Battousai!” His companion nodded in agreement.

What?! He, they...How dare they! Kaoru contained an upset outcry as the accusation rang in her ears. Anger tingling in her senses, her body stiffened. Her knuckles turned white as she squeezed the life out of her basket’s handle.

Oblivious in their ranting to the road’s sudden silence, the men continued their conversation.

“I know what you mean.” The first man gave a humorless laugh. “Who needs evidence? That man’s a cold-blooded killer.”

“It’s not safe on the streets with him around! We should run that bastard out of town. See if that doesn’t stop these so called ‘disappearances’!”

“Kenshin’s not like that!” Unable to stop herself Kaoru turned on the talkers, her eyes blazing fiercely. The basket in her hands was brandished like a weapon. “He hasn’t done anything!”

The men blinked at her outburst. Stepping forward the shorter man gave her a once over, the curl of his lip showing that he was clearly unimpressed. ”Who are you to talk, little girl? Battousai is a bloody murderer. Everyone-”

“You don’t even know him! What right do you have to judge him?!” Oh, what she would give for her bokken. She gave them a glare that would have flamed dry timber.

“Wait, I know you,” the second man cut in, eyes narrowing as he took in her appearance. “You’re that damn kendo bitch!”

“That’s right,” the first man’s eyes widened in recognition.

“You whore!” The man punctuated his words with a vehement slap, sending Kaoru stumbling. Stepping forward, the taller man loamed over the petite kendo instructor. “It’s you’re fault for giving that murdering bastard a place to stay!”

The gauntlet had been thrown.

She didn’t allow him a second opening. The basket left her hands in a flying arch. The edible fruits turned projectile gave a most satisfying splat upon hitting her assailants.

Their punches went wild as they found themselves covered in fruit excrement. Hard spent hours of training in the dojo aided her in evading their strikes, despite the fact that she was wearing a kimono. The flavorful distraction gave her the chance to look for something, anything, that could be used as a thwacking device.

She’d just reached for the canopy support rod of one from the nearest merchant’s stalls when several unexpected things happened.

“Jou-chan?!”

“Sano?” Kaoru froze, fingers outstretched, blinking at the ex-fighter for hire who’d appeared among the group of spectators.

Her opponents, on the other hand, did not freeze. Ridding themselves of fruit, they launched their offensive. Using her momentary stasis to their advantage, the men managed to knock Kaoru off of her feet. Their victory over the petite kendo teacher was short lived, however. They were unconscious before they had the chance to gloat. A swish of white and a rush a pain would be the last thing they remembered.

Sanosuke smirked smugly in view of his handy work. Those jerks wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. Though, he almost wished that they’d wake up just so he’d get the pleasure of pounding them again. That would teach them for messing with his friends.

“Ya alright there, Jou-chan?” He asked, offering a hand to Kaoru as she moved to stand.

“I’m fine,” she answered, accepting the proffered hand gratefully. Kaoru grit her teeth as several new bruises made themselves known. Quickly dusting off her kimono, she gathered her empty shopping basket up. “Thank you for your help, Sano.”

“Don’t mention it.” He replied. “I’m sure you could of handled ‘em anyway. I just sped things up, that’s all. But,” Sano poked her darkening left cheek.

“Hey!” Kaoru protested. Jerking away, she brought a hand to her stinging cheek. “What did you do that for?!”

“It looks like you’re going to have a nice bruise right there.” Sanosuke finished, ignoring her outburst.

“I guess it’s a good thing I was going to Megumi’s anyway.” Kaoru said.

True statement, she had planned on going to see the doctor, simply not so soon. No time like the present. Lucky, they were quite close already; her feet automatically picked out the familiar path.

Sano accompanied her silently. Though his concern was unspoken, his brow was creased. The fish bone he placed between his teeth twitched every once and awhile as he worked out his agitation.

She gave him a half-hearted smile, only to flinch as her cheek voiced its complaint. Irritated, she rubbed the spot briskly.

Darn it! Even as she rubbed, Kaoru knew with a frustrating certainty that her cheek was going to be visibly stained with the spreading splotch of a bruise. Her eyes darkened unhappily.

She’d been doing so well to avoid their blows too. It must have been that first slap. That jerk, why did he have to hit her in the face anyway?

The foxy lady’s humble place of work came into view as they turned around one of the many street corners. Kaoru gave a sigh. She would probably be on the receiving end of one of Megumi's lectures, but she couldn’t deny that the doctoring would be much appreciated.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Sanosuke raising an eyebrow at her silence. He was going to want an explanation soon. She could see the wheels in his head turning.

“So Jou-chan,” Sano managed to sound completely casual. “You don’t usually attack people on the streets...” His voice trailed off as he looked down expectantly at her, waiting for her to fill him in.

“They deserved it.” Kaoru muttered sliding open the door to the clinic.

“I’m sure.” He snorted, continuing. “But what-“

”I knew I heard a Rooster. Oh, and the Tanuki is here as well?” Megumi’s voice interrupted, as she came into the reception room to see to her customers. The lady doctor paused mid-smirk as she took in Kaoru’s appearance, a frown setting in, “Again?”

“Yes, it was just a little one though this time.” Kaoru told her friend with an embarrassed smile. Megumi gave a disappointed shake of her head

“Again?!” Sanosuke echoed surprised. Again? This time, as in more than once? And a little one at that? Why didn’t he know about this?! He’d been left in the dark, surprise turned to frustration. “Jou-chan.”

Kaoru was saved from giving a response by Megumi as the doctor hauled her into the treatment room. The fox lady stopped Sano’s pursuit by quickly slamming the shoji door behind them.

“I need to examine my patient,” the lady doctor said as Sano began to argue from the other side. “All Roosters have to stay out.”

“I wanna know what’s going on, hear me?!” He shouted through the screen. “I’m not going anywhere until ya do!” Saying so, there was a thud as he sat himself outside the door muttering about a certain pesky fox.

Once inside the room, Megumi bustled about as she retrieved the various balms and bandaging she would need. Reaching up into one of the various cabinets, she commented over her shoulder. “I though we’d discussed counting to ten the next time this happened.”

Kaoru had considered counting, for all of two seconds. Giving them a pounding, had just turned out to be a much more satisfying idea. Of course, she couldn’t say that to the fox-eared doctor.

“I know we talked about it, Megumi.” Kaoru conceded, taking a seat on the floor. Clinching a fist, she added in self defense “They were just saying such awful things that I had to do something. You would have done the same thing.”

"Hardly,” Megumi said, thrusting her nose in the air in a superior manner. “I would have won.”

“I won,” Kaoru shot back. These were bruises of victory, thank you very much. She didn’t mention the fact that Sano dealt the final blows. The situation had been under her complete control in the first place.

Sitting down beside the younger woman, Megumi spread out her equipment with a flourish. “First, I want to redress your shoulder before I look into any newer injuries.” She gave Kaoru a hard stare. “That is, unless you have a more pressing wound?”

Kaoru waved her hands to deny the doctor’s charge. It made her feeling guilty to have someone concerned about fighting injuries when it had been her own decision to fight in the first place. “No, everything that’s new are just bruises. My shoulder is all that’s hurting really.”

The shoulder in question had been hurt a couple days earlier in a different scuffle. She’d had her parasol that time so the ruffians who earned her wrath would be out of commission for quite a bit. Unfortunately, one of the lowlifes had been carrying a suntetsu, a small concealed blade. He had just managed to get in a little nick on her left shoulder. It wasn’t even very deep.

Still, it was starting to sting like the dickens. It must have been all the jostling. She could only assume that, with the way it was throbbing, she’d torn the cut open, again.

Megumi huffed slightly as the shoulder in question was exposed. Yes indeed, it was bleeding under the gauze. “The rest better just be only bruises. I don’t want to have to waste as many bandages on you as I do on Sano.”

Despite Megumi’s lofty tone, the hand that soothed on the new layer of disinfecting cream was gentle. The two of them had become close over the past couple of years. They both loved to nag and get under each others skin, but time had softened the teasing into an unspoken understanding between the two of them. Now, their bond was fairly sisterly in nature.

Once the wound had been cleaned, the lady doctor briskly wrapped a new covering of bandages over it. Kaoru rotated her shoulder stiffly a couple times to test out her mobility. It was still very sore, but bearable.

As Kaoru readjusted her kimono, Megumi passed over two small jars. “Now the green one is to help your shoulder. That is if you can manage to stop tweaking it, meaning you need to ease up on using it.”

“But what about-“

”Yes, that means softer on teaching too,” Megumi said firmly. More sarcastically she added, “and if that is absolutely impossible for you to do, Tanuki, just think of the lovely scar you’ll have if you keep working it open like this. Then again, that would suit a violent girl such as yourself.”

“I understand, Megumi,” Kaoru replied flatly.

“Now, for the bruises.” The doctor indicated the other jar. “That bruise balm should help sooth them and heal them faster.”

“Speaking of bruises,” Kaoru said hesitantly, pointing to her cheek. “Do you know a way I can make this less noticeable?”

Megumi pursed her lips giving her a suspicious look. “Do I want to know why?”

Kaoru blushed slightly, the added coloring turning the blemish to a rather unpleasant violet. Dropping her voice to little above a whisper she said quietly, “I don’t want Kenshin to see. That is, if he notices, he’ll ask about it and I well...”

“What are you-“ Megumi began then stopped, eyes widening as she put the pieces together. The continued incidents of Kaoru’s market brawls in spite of the fact that Kenshin had the worriers tendency to be overprotective. The resulting screech made Kaoru wince. “You never told him?!”

“I can hear your shouting Fox. Does this mean I can come in yet?” Sano asked plaintively, peeking his head in. When nothing was thrown at him, his intrusive, spiky head was followed by the rest of him. He took a seat next two the two women. “Is someone going to explain what’s going on?”

Megumi sighed, then resigned herself to the explanation. She said. “I’m assuming that even a freeloader like you has heard about the new bout of murder cases, right?”

“Oh you mean, the disappearances,” Sanosuke corrected with a smirk.

“Does it matter?” Megumi said, unwilling to let Sano get one up on her. “They don’t come back is the point!”

“And some people want to say Kenshin is the one who did it!” Kaoru said eyes blazing fiercely.

“So that’s why...” Sano’s eyes trailed to her bruised cheek as he thought about what must have provoked Kaoru into beating someone up.

Looking between her two friends, blue eyes serious, Kaoru added, “people are just looking for someone to blame with all these disappearances. So, they just point the finger at the easiest target. It’s not right!”

“Still Tanuki.” Megumi said, crossing her arms. “Ken-san is more than capable of defending his own name. That doesn’t explain-“

”He’ll leave again.” Kaoru cut in. She took a deep breath, as the words hurt her to say them. “He’ll leave again. You know he will, if he thinks that he’s bringing trouble by staying here.”

The room grew silent under the weight of her words. They were an unavoidable truth. Hadn’t they seen proof of such behavior before where the rurouni was involved?

Wordlessly Megumi rose from her seat. Bringing down a third container, from her stores she opened it motioning for Kaoru to move closer. Opening the small jar she took the pale tan, viscous fluid on a fingertip dabbing it on Kaoru’s marred cheek. Gently, she blended it onto the young kendo instructor’s skin until the bruise was no longer visible. Wiping her hand off on her apron, the doctor explained. “This concealer will help you hide your bruise. It can be wiped and smudged off, so be careful. Make sure you touch it up over the course of the day or it will wear off.”

Kaoru looked appreciatively at the lady doctor. “Thank you, Megumi.”

The older woman brushed Kaoru’s thanks off with a wave of her hand as she stood up again. “Don’t thank me Tanuki, you’ll be the one responsible to keep Ken-san from suspecting anything. Make sure you don’t mess it up.” Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she added, “which means you should head back to the dojo now, or didn’t you realize that nearly an hour has passed?”

That sent Kaoru to her feet. “Oh no, I didn’t even get my shopping done either!”

The edibles that she’d purchased had been used in a much more creative way then intended. Kaoru cringed. She’d thrown them so instinctively that she hadn’t realized that doing so created a bigger shopping expense.

“Don’t worry Jou-chan,” Sanosuke said, brushing off his pants as he stood as well. “We can run by the market quick before headin’ back.”

Kaoru nodded, then paused, ”wait a moment, we?”

“Yeah, we,” He said sticking his hands in his pockets. “You don’t think I’ll just let you go alone now after what happened did ya? Besides if he sees ya coming back later with me Kenshin will probably just ignore it and, I’ll get some good chow out of it.”

As surprising as it may seem, the Rooster did have a good head on his shoulders. When he chose to use it, that is. It was also his way of agreeing not to tell Kenshin, saying that her secret was safe with him.

“Alright,” Kaoru agreed. After a parting wave to Megumi, she gave the Rooster head a grateful pat. “Thank you Sano.”

“Just remember, I don’t want to have to see you in here for awhile.” Megumi called as the two left the clinic. “That goes for both of you.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Fox,” Sanosuke replied over his shoulder. Turning back to Kaoru he continued, “like I told you earlier, you don’t have to worry about thankin’ me. I’m helping cause I want to.”

They were all like his family anyway weren’t they? Life was peaceful for once around the dojo and he kinda liked it that way. He was just doing what needed to be done. Plus, if there was going to be any fighting going on, he sure as heck didn’t want to be left out.

Sticking his fish bone back in his mouth, he gave Kaoru a mischievous wink, adding, “besides, maybe after I get some food in me I can see if I can find out more about those disappearances.”

Kaoru gave Sano a smile. She could feel a relief from the weight of worry that had been tugging at her since this incident began. Kenshin wasn’t going to be wandering anytime soon if they had any say in it.

A part of her could have laughed at the irony. A little over two years ago, she had been fighting to sever the name of Battousai from her dojo. Now, she was willing to do anything in her power to keep him from leaving.

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is not in any way, shape, or universe mine.

Author's Notes: Disappearances? Murders? Flying Fruit? What else does the future hold in store? Any questions, comments, suggestions will be appreciated.

Alea Seikou

"But I cannot forget / Refuse to regret / So glad I met you" - The Sun by Maroon5