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Broken Pieces: Chapter 11 - preparing to follow through

by linay

Even when I stand

I feel myself falling

“Oh?” Takasugi smirked, looking up from his coffee, “You’re uncharacteristically late, Himura. Girlie take too long in the shower?”

Kenshin, striding into Takasugi’s apartment silently, stood over the sitting man and glared down. Raising an eye brow, Takasugi stood, rising to his full six feet before turning towards the kitchen.

“Can I offer you a cup of coffee?” Takasugi asked casually, “Or did you already get one from the little missy? Or maybe from the madame I sent you last night?”

“Don’t do that again,” Kenshin’s voice came from behind, dripping with icy malice.

“Do what?” Takasugi turned, his eyes mischievous.

Kenshin’s face was hard as stone but his eyes positively darkened with barely controlled rage. “I am your employee. I kill for you,” he snarled through clenched teeth, “But don’t presume to know what I want.”

Takasugi sat down again gracefully, setting a fresh cup of black coffee before an empty seat. “Who said I anything about me knowing what you want?”

Kenshin’s body stiffened from the rage he held within. “The goddamn hooker, Takasugi-san,” he seethed.

“Did I send that?”

Kenshin’s eyes widened and his pupils shrunk frighteningly. Takasugi lifted a hand, placating.

“Fine,” he amended, “But you liked that kind of thing before.”

“I don’t now.”

“Why ever not?”

His mouth a cold line, Kenshin glared an unspoken threat. “What does it matter to you? I do my job.”

Takasugi flattened his scraggly black hair with his fingers and leaned back in his seat. “So you do, Himura,” he smirked, “So you do.”

A crisp, clean knock sounded at the door. Takasugi rose swiftly and swept past the stiff assassin. Kenshin turned his head to see the door swing open.

“Good morning,” Katsura Kogoro greeted the men in his calm drawl from the doorway.

Their leader strode into the room, composed and clean cut. He sat gracefully in the seat previously meant for Kenshin, adjusting his business jacket deftly.

“This won’t take long,” Katsura informed them, pushing the cup of coffee away, “There is something that needs to be taken care of right away. Unfortunately, it will require some preparation and I am afraid we are running out of time as we speak.”

The refined politician titled his chiselled profile to meet Kenshin’s eyes. “The end result, of course, involves you, Himura.”

Kenshin gave a barely perceptible nod, acknowledging his part in the play.

Katsura turned to look at Takasugi, who was feigning a relaxed attitude as always. “This involves the American business man, Allan Morton. He is actually an arms dealer, supplying the remnants of Kanryu’s crime ring with immense firepower.”

“He’s still a thorn in our side, even from the grave,” Takasugi remarked dryly.

“He must be taken care of tonight,” Katsura said, a faint tone of urgency entering his normally composed voice, “Before he has a chance to arrange for the transfer of weapons.”

“Not a problem,” Takasugi rolled his head to look at the stone-faced assassin, “Right Himura?”

Still addressing Takasugi, Katsura continued, “But this Allan Morton is notorious for his lavish outings in Japan. He will, at all times, be surrounded by whores and bodyguards. Tonight he will have a private party in a suite at the Moriya Hotel. Only whores and his guards will be present. This is what you must take care of, Takasugi.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Takasugi waved it off, “I’ll just get our pimp types to make sure all the hookers in town know to split right before it’s Himura’s turn. It’ll take some time to get the word out so I’ll get to it.”

He began to rise but Katsura raised a hand to stop him. “That is what I wanted. But there is something more,” he looked up and met Kenshin’s amber gaze, “Kamiya-san is required.”

Kenshin stared down at his employer’s determined face. “What for?”

“Allan Morton is obsessed with surrounding himself with sex,” Katsura explained in perfect calm, “And all his 10 bodyguards are women - dressed as whores.”

“So?”

“So I do not wish them killed by the sword.”

“What do you want, then?”

“Kamiya Kaoru will erase their memories and bring back reports on Morton’s other deals.”

“I doubt they will wait patiently in line to have their minds explored by that teenager.”

Katsura sighed. “Precisely so.”

“Solution, anyone?” Takasugi interrupted.

A moment of silence hung thick in the air above the three men. Katsura knew his plan, yet he knew it would not be well received. Finally, he lifted his eyes and spoke.

“Takasugi will take Kamiya-san to meet all of the whores involved so that she will recognize them at Morton’s party tonight. During the party, she will erase the memories of all but the chief female bodyguard, since she is always too close to Morton. At precisely 2 AM, our whores will leave suddenly and let Himura in. Himura will immobilize the chief bodyguard so that Kamiya-san can clear her mind. Then, Himura, you will kill Allan Morton.”

Two pairs of incredulous eyes gaped at Katsura’s perfectly serious face.

“That,” Takasugi announced, leaning forward, “Is impossible.”

Kenshin’s features hardened, he eyes boring into Katsura’s and searching for any hint of a chance that he might be persuaded to change his orders.

Takasugi, meanwhile, continued to rant. “First of all, is the Kamiya girl competent enough to handle not ONE, but TEN, body guards? Can she even defend herself? Oh and by the way, it’s a fucking WHORE party,” He slapped a hand to his forehead, “She will NOT wear the clothes she’ll need to in order to blend in. Or lack of clothes, I mean.”

Katsura, his eyes trained on Kenshin’s, countered calmly, “I do believe that Kamiya-san is quite capable of handling what I have planned. And she will have to comply with the dress code. I also have sources that say she is quite handy with a sword. Don’t you think so, Himura?”

Kenshin regarded the seriousness in Katsura’s eyes with scepticism. “I wouldn’t know,” he answered quietly.

“Well,” Katsura replied quietly, though his voice rang with authority, “You’ll have to find out. I want you to make sure she has a weapon and can use it.”

“No one touches my swords but me.”

“Then have Takasugi find a weapon suitable for her, and make sure she can use it.” Katsura’s voice held no room for argument.

The only answer he received from the assassin was a hard, disapproving stare.

“Shinsaku,” Katsura said, turning to Takasugi, “Go set up appointments with the pimps, find clothes for Kamiya-san, get her some weapons and then return to Himura’s apartment. Then take her to meet our women and give her instructions.”

Takasugi nodded and rose, his departure dimly registering as background noise.

“Himura,” Katsura commanded, “You are to train the girl in some form of self-defence-”

“Sir-”

“This is what you will do,” Katsura said, his stern authority unmasked, “and then at exactly 2 AM you will be waiting outside the penthouse suite of the Moriya Hotel.”

Without waiting for a reply, Katsura rose and straightened his jacket. He turned to leave, stopping only for a moment.

“This must be done,” he said softly, “For the sake of Kyoto.”

And then Kenshin was left alone in Takasugi’s apartment.

Megumi marched into her boss’ office and slapped a thick file folder down onto his desk.

“The racoon girl’s medical reports, I presume,” the burly man commented with a dry smirk.

“Of course, sir,” Megumi replied cattily, “And may I take this opportunity to remind you that Kaoru has been missing for over a week now and you have done absolutely nothing about it?”

“My dear, it’s not your job to think about that.”

“She’s my patient.”

“Not at the moment, she’s not.”

With a loud snort, Megumi flipped her hair over one shoulder and stalked out of the room.

Her boss pulled out a manila envelope from beneath a pile of messy papers and shoved the file folders in. With a few licks, the medical reports were sealed into the envelope. Taking up a pen, the man scrawled a name in the centre of the envelope: to Katsura Kogoro.

As he idly scratched his own initials, “H.S.”, in the corner of the envelope, he picked up the phone and barked, “Send a courier to my office. I have a package that needs to be delivered immediately.”

“I’m not going to touch that!”

“Just take it already!”

“No way.”

“Listen, kid. It’s for your own good.”

Kaoru rolled her eyes at Takasugi. “Yeah right. I’m still not touching that thing.”

“Dammit! You’re putting me behind schedule, missy.”

“Like I care.”

Kenshin watched the argument as he leaned against the far wall of the apartment. Takasugi was shaking a handgun at Kaoru while she simply stood with her arms crossed, shaking her head resolutely.

“You won’t take the gun, the switch blade or the damn pepper spray. I bet you wouldn’t even take a toothpick if I offered it to you!”

“I said I’m not touching any of your weapons and I mean it.”

“Okay then,” Takasugi demanded, his easy-going demeanour lost in frustration, “Just what will you take with you?”

“A bokken.”

“A bokken?” Takasugi ejaculated in disbelief, “You want a wooden sword? How the hell does that work? And how the hell will you hide a wooden sword under your disguise?”

Kaoru shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s the only weapon I’ll carry.”

Takasugi raised a wagging finger. “Listen, you-”

“Nevermind the weapon,” came a deathly cold voice from the other side of the room.

Both Kaoru and Takasugi turned from their debate to see Kenshin straighten up. His interruption caused Takasugi to raise an eyebrow and Kaoru’s heart to skip a beat. Still shaken from the previous night but refusing to let on, Kaoru stared at him and tried to mask the bundle of confused nerves throbbing in her chest.

The night before, Kenshin had dropped her onto the floor and stomped into the shower. She had slowly crept into her room, frightened, exhilarated and confused. However, in the hours that passed, the heat that had possessed her captor had plummeted into a frozen wall of ice. He ignored her, avoided her and refused to look at her. Kaoru felt invisible.

“Just get on with it,” Kenshin said, his voice calm shattering her thoughts, “Never mind the weapon.”

“Katsura said-”

“I’ll teach her some hand to hand combat skills.”

Kaoru opened her mouth to protest violently but her voice died in her throat when she saw the dark look Kenshin was shooting her.

“Fine, fine,” Takasugi said, shrugging, “I don’t care.” He reached for a familiar pink shopping bag. “Let’s get on to the more interesting parts of this mission, shall we?” he said with a devious smirk, pulling out Kaoru’s disguise.

“Sir,” Katsura’s receptionist announced, “This package came for you by express courier.”

Katsura looked up from his paperwork. “Just set it down on my desk.”

The receptionist glided across the plush office and set a thick manila envelope onto Katsura’s crowded mahogany desk. Katsura glanced down at it as the heavy wood doors slid shut. His eye catching the initials “H.S.”, he set aside his work and picked up the envelope. With a quick slide of his penknife, the manila envelope came open and he pulled out a thick file folder.

“Kamiya Kaoru,” he read aloud thoughtfully.

“Hey kids!” Takasugi called as he made his exit, “I’ll be back in two hours. Don’t do anything kinky while I’m gone! Wait till I get back.”

The door shut and an awkward, tense silence blanketed them both. Kaoru turned stiffly on her heel, eyeing Kenshin warily. Kenshin stared back, his eyes masked by amber. Then, slowly, he began to approach the girl. Kaoru frowned.

“What?” she demanded, her gut clenching involuntarily at his approach.

Kenshin didn’t answer, but continued his slow, menacing trek across the room.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kaoru asked defensively, her stomach leaping into her throat.

Stopping a few yards away from her, Kenshin asked, “Is it correct that you have sword training?”

Kaoru tossed her head defiantly, “Yes, that’s right.”

“What is the style?”

“Kamiya Kasshin Ryu,” Kaoru answered, lifting her chin.

“Never heard of it.”

“I wouldn’t expect that some one like you would have.”

“Why is that?” His voice was cold, and eerily calm.

“Because Kamiya Kasshin Ryu teaches that the sword protects life. The sword is not for killing but for protecting the ones you love.”

Kenshin laughed a dry, almost bitter laugh, “That is impossible.”

Kaoru turned away, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

“Tonight you have an important part to play in our mission,” Kenshin said softly.

“So?”

Before her next intake of breath, Kaoru felt a rush of wind at the back of her knees. And then she was flat on her back, staring at the ceiling.

“You’re too slow,” came a deadpan voice from above.

Kaoru flipped herself over and clambered to her feet, her cheeks burning with anger. “What was that for?”

“You need to be able to defend yourself.”

“I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”

Business, Kenshin chanted to himself as he knocked the little girl’s feet out from under her with a swift sweep of his leg, It’s only business.

“Obviously you can’t,” Kenshin commented derisively.

Kaoru pinched her lips into a tight line, crouching slightly in anticipation. Without a word, Kenshin launched himself forward and grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back. With a cry, Kaoru jabbed at his stomach with her free elbow and stomped on his foot. Kenshin silently jumped away, releasing her. She whirled about to face him, panting softly.

“Basic and crude,” he remarked, his face a mask of iron, “But sufficient.”

Without even a warning, he was at her again, this time with a chokehold on her throat. In silent approval of her next movement, Kenshin let Kaoru kick him in the shins and pull away. Without hesitation, he aimed a punch at her porcelain face. Kaoru lashed out with her forearm, knocking his punch away. Kenshin’s iron fingers, however, clamped down onto her forearm. His other fist flew at her stomach. Kaoru closed her eyes and braced for the impact.

But the impact never came. Looking down, she saw his fist had stopped millimetres away from her stomach.

“Never close your eyes,” Kenshin instructed, looking at her through red bangs.

Kaoru nodded and pulled away, her psyche slipping into routine martial arts classes. Instantly, Kenshin threw a punch for her face, repeating the exact sequence.

So the two continued to dance in hand to hand combat; Kenshin throwing assaults and Kaoru attempting to defend herself. Whenever Kaoru succeeded in warding him off, he stepped back silently and commenced a new attack sequence. Whenever Kaoru failed, he repeated the attack until she succeeded. And through all the attacks, he surveyed her as if through a distant looking glass.

Kaoru, on the other hand, threw her mind and body into the dance, even forgetting who the man before her was. In her mind, they were in a polished wood training hall, the sound of their collisions echoing of the walls. She focused her energy into defence, her frustration egging her on.

Kenshin watched her through his seamless attacks. While it was true that he attacked her with only half his strength, he didn’t soften the blows either. Kenshin forced his blood to run cold and his eyes to ignore the liveliness before him. He stopped his ears to her grunts and cries, blinded his eyes to her parted pink lips and taut young muscles and he killed the warmth that threatened to spread through his body. He was like an inanimate machine of frosty metal compared with her exuberant effort.

It’s only business, his voice wound like an iron chain through his blood, Business. Nothing more than business.

“Dammit,” Takasugi muttered under his breath as he strode towards Kenshin’s apartment, “Five fucking o’clock already.”

Takasugi rapped on the door loudly, tapping his foot impatiently. It had taken half an hour to get downtown in traffic, a little over three hours to contact all the pimps and arrange for specific whores to meet at the Sakura tea house for a briefing and nearly forty five minutes to get back to their apartment building. Of course, Takasugi thought dryly, it would probably take double that time to force the Kamiya chick into her skimpy disguise.

He heard a rustle in the lock and assumed his laid back personality as soon as the door swung open. Kenshin stood before him, his black sweater rolled up to the elbows and wisps of his flame red hair falling from his ponytail. Takasugi peered into the semi-darkness of the room and spotted Kaoru, stretched out onto the sofa with her hair askew and her chest heaving.

“Getting busy or what?” Takasugi managed a dirty smirk, “I told you to wait for me.”

Kenshin shot him a dark look and made way for him to enter. Sweeping into the room, swinging the pink bag, Takasugi appeared before Kaoru with a devilish smile. Kaoru pushed herself up onto her elbows.

“No way.”

“Yes way, my dear,” Takasugi smiled, dumping out the contents of his bag onto her lap.

Kaoru unceremoniously pushed the semi-lingerie of her lap and onto the floor. “I told you before and I’m telling you again,” she said vehemently, “There is NO WAY I am putting that on.”

Takasugi crouched in front of her and pulled the outfit up. “Those are the orders my dear,” he said, smiling wickedly, “And besides, this outfit cost my sister a fortune.” He lifted a tiny, black tube top in one hand and a jean skirt that was just as big in the other.

Kaoru swallowed. “Wasn’t there a spaghetti strap shirt in there? I might wear that.”

With his two pinkie fingers, Takasugi dangled a bright red, string thong. “Oh no, my dear,” he chucked, “That’s this. You should wear this too - just in case.”

“In case of what?” Kaoru squeaked, a furious blush heating her cheeks.

“Just in case,” Takasugi sneered lightly.

“But-” began a very flustered Kaoru.

“Listen,” Takasugi said, dropping his tone and leaning forward, “If you don’t want ten women to die tonight by Himura’s sword, you’d best go put this on.”

Kaoru huffed and picked up the outfit in one handful. She stalked off to the bathroom, muttering all the while.

Takasugi stood and stretched. “So,” he asked Kenshin, “Get anything done?”

Kenshin moved for the fireplace. “She will probably be fine as long as she doesn’t pick any fights.”

“So,” Takasugi drawled, “You didn’t get anything done then.”

Kenshin looped his swords through his belt. “She can’t fight off all ten. But she can take one or two, perhaps.”

“Well,” Takasugi said with a shrug, “If that’s the best you could do. Hey!” he asked as Kenshin threw on his cloak, “Where the hell are you going?”

“Out.”

“But it’s still daylight.”

“So?”

“Well,” Takasugi said devishly, “Don’t you want to see her in her new outfit.”

“No,” Kenshin said curtly, spinning on his heel.

“Oh my,” Takasugi whistled, “Aren’t we touchy.”

“Leave me alone,” Kenshin said darkly, tucking the hilts of his swords under his cloak and reaching for the doorknob.

“Don’t forget to show up at 2 AM.”

“I won’t,” Kenshin affirmed, stepping out the door without a glance backwards.

“Don’t forget not to let her get killed.”

Kenshin’s answer was the harsh slam of the door.

Takasugi smiled softly and turned towards the bathroom door, where he heard Kaoru fumbling with the lock. The bathroom door opened slowly and a bare foot emerged timidly.

“Come on out sweetheart!” Takasugi hollered.

“Shut up!” came the instant answer from Kaoru. She shuffled out of the bathroom, a large towel wrapped around her shoulders.

Takasugi stood. “Now how in hell is anyone going to believe that you’re a whore if you act so shy?”

“I’m not a whore,” Kaoru spat.

“Tonight you will be.”

“I’ll be pretending to be a whore. I won’t be a whore.”

“Fine line you’re walking,” Takasugi chuckled, striding over to her quickly.

“Where’s Kenshin?” Kaoru asked, looking around.

“Went out,” Takasugi answered, suddenly pulling the towel away from her shoulders.

“Hey!” Kaoru cried out in protest, wrapping her arms around herself.

She glared at him with all her might, trying to burn a whole through his chest. Takasugi just stared down at her small frame, assessing her. The black tube top barely covered her breasts and revealed her smooth belly scandalously. The low-cut jean skirt hugged her hips snugly but stopped a few inches below her buttocks.

Takasugi smiled appreciatively. Kaoru shuddered.

“Not bad,” he commented slyly, “We’ll just get you some spiky high heels and you’ll blend right in. Too bad your tits aren’t bigger, though.”

Kaoru’s nostrils flared angrily. Takasugi roared with laughter. Ignoring her anger, he pulled her from the apartment by her upper arm.

Kenshin stood the river that separated the districts in Kyoto, staring down into its dark, murky depths. Despite the fact that his arms were crossed and his fingers curled into knots, his visage was as stone-faced as ever. His amber eyes were fastened to the images that flitted across the water. He watched silently as branches of nearby trees waved in perverse patterns over the water, as darkened clouds hid the sun, as people rippled and disappeared over the water’s surface.

But his unemotional gaze drifted most often to one image in particular. A dark form, wavering on the messy waves. And a top that tower of translucent black, a rust stain rippling with the waves as wind ripples hair. His eyes watched the pale mask below him, seeing the face distorted and convoluted to match the water’s mirror. Kenshin’s eyes sank past his reflection, to pierce the murky depths below.

And he despised himself.

Kaoru clenched her fists, letting her fingernails dig into her palms. Takasugi loped along beside her as they headed to their rendez-vous with the whores, glancing down every so often to read the expressions on her face. At the moment, it was obvious that she was struggling to command her ankles not to wobble and her feet not to stumble. Walking in spiked high heels proved to be a novelty for the young woman but she bore it well, inconspicuously glancing down to check for holes in the cement that might lead to her downfall. Walking in such tight, revealing clothes was also a challenge and she alternated between checking for pavement potholes and pulling her shirt and skirt up or down.

They reached the infamous Sakura Teahouse. Kaoru paused momentarily at the entrance, visions of previous nightmares flitting through her mind. But pressing her lips together and steeling herself for the whistles and catcalls that would come, she pushed the curtain aside and stepped in to face her promise to Katsura.