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Broken Pieces: Chapter 12 - spaces of sin

by linay

I fall without ceasing

Into the spaces of sin

Even in daylight a smoky haze filled the air of the Sakura Teahouse. It being only mid afternoon, only a few drunks lounged at scattered tables. Kaoru coughed her way through the main room of the teahouse, following Takasugi to the back.

Ahead of her by a few paces, Takasugi pushed back a second curtain and called out, “Sorry I’m late my darlings!”

Kaoru stumbled in after him, her eyes squinting at the sudden bright lights of the back room.

“Dammit,” she heard a female voice curse, “I could have made a good hundred in the time we were waiting for your sorry ass.”

Takasugi chuckled. “Don’t worry sweetheart, we’ll pay you good money for tonight.”

Kaoru blinked uncertainly, clearing her eyes and looking around. She rubbed at her eyes and gasped slightly at the unexpected sight before her.

The back room turned out to be even bigger than the main room. Even though the ceiling was as low, it was a wide, brightly lit open space with polished hardwood floors and solid wood walls. Folding tables and chairs were stacked high at one end of the room.

However, more shocking than the clean air, was the sight of more than thirty women scattered throughout the space - mostly scantily clad. A few greasy looking men dotted the room as well, weaving their way around the women like bees.

Kaoru’s gaze shot at Takasugi, who was looking down amusedly at a small, heavily made up woman wearing nothing but a bra and skirt.

“You better pay us good,” she was saying in a cigarette hoarse voice, jabbing a finger into his chest, “Cause we’re here wasting time. And you damn well know that for us, time is money.”

Takasugi smirked and beckoned to Kaoru. The woman caught his gesture and turned two blue lined eyes to Kaoru.

“Is that her?” she asked, her voice riddled with scorn, “That’s the under-cover bitch you made us wait for? Damn,” she said, leaning back and jutting out a hip, “I could probably scratch that’s kid’s eyes out in three seconds. Why the hell is she so damned special that we’re all wasting time here?”

Takasugi patted the woman’s black, frizzed hair as if she was a cute dog. “You’ll get your money,” he said, “Just shut up.”

Kaoru stared wide-eyed at the woman, forgetting for the moment her own indecent clothing. The woman glared back at the girl with a derisive smirk.

“Bitch doesn’t even have a decent pair of boobs,” she half-snarled.

A furious blush heated Kaoru’s cheeks and she forced herself to hold her gaze level.

“Oh come on now,” Takasugi laughed, coming over to Kaoru’s side and taking her elbow between two fingers, “Just because your tits are starting to sag, doesn’t mean you have to criticize this young, perky bosom.”

Kaoru turned glaring eyes to Takasugi, opening her mouth to unleash angry protests. Takasugi glanced down and began to guide her by the elbow.

“No now, dearest,” he cooed falsely, “Let’s just get on with it, shall we?” He pointed to the bitter-faced prostitute before them. “Since you’re already familiar with this one, let’s start here. This is the woman known as Mimi. She’s a hooker,” he explained in an overly fatherly voice, “Don’t do anything to her.”

“Like she could,” the woman huffed.

Takasugi ignored the comment and pulled Kaoru, who had just remembered her aversion for high heels, along to the next group of scantily clad women.

“This is Annie, Jessica and Mary,” he said, pointing to three girls one at a time, “As you can guess, they cater mostly to American business men, hence their names.”

Annie, a tall, skinny woman in a tube dress, laughed raucously, “The geezers like to be able to pronounce the names they moan during a screwing.”

Kaoru’s eyes widened again and her rosy blush began to creep onto her cheeks again. The prostitute named Jessica, a sultry full-figured woman, smiled with pouting lips and sidled up to her.

“Oh my,” Jessica crooned, “You’re quite the innocent little beauty.” She traced a manicured fingernail down her cheek. Looking up at Takasugi, she remarked suggestively, “This one would bring in quite a market. Maybe after this is done you could let her work with us for awhile?”

Kaoru flinched backwards suddenly, fearful protesting in her blue eyes. Takasugi laughed heartily.

“Unfortunately we have other plans for her,” he smiled.

Jessica shrugged and took a step back. Kaoru shuddered.

“My dear,” Takasugi said to Kaoru, “Get a good look at everyone’s faces here. They’re the women you leave alone.”

Attempting to focus, Kaoru scrutinized each face. “But,” she began hesitantly, “What if…you know…their make up?”

“Don’t worry honey,” Jessica said in her luscious tone, “We’ll all look the same. We’ll keep the same make-up masks, that is.”

Kaoru nodded, still staring. Takasugi tugged her along, naming each girl and letting Kaoru memorize each face. In a state between curiosity and shock, Kaoru tried to focus on their physical features instead of imagining their emotions. She tuned out their crude comments and refused to meet their blatant eyes directly.

“Hey,” Takasugi’s voice and a light elbow to her side roused her from her solitude, “You listening?”

They were making their way across the room the last remaining small group of women. All the others had departed to attend to their businesses after having been introduced and received instructions.

“Why?”

“You need to know this.”

“Why should I need to know their names,” she hissed, “I only need to know their faces.”

Takasugi replied softly, “You never know when you might need someone’s help.”

“Their help?” she whispered incredulously.

“You never know,” Takasugi said cryptically, turning to flash a smirk at the ladies they were approaching.

“Kaoru,” he said, “This is Amanda and Linda.”

Kaoru studied Amanda’s porcelain skin, tall nose and cropped brown hair. Already tired and slightly annoyed by the intense glares she had been receiving from everyone, Kaoru noted disdainfully that Amanda’s beedy eyes were pale, translucent brown.

Takasugi was still making useless small talk and Amanda was responding in childlike giggles, showing off her yellowing teeth. Kaoru turned to the next girl and started from the feet, expecting more of the same.

The first thing that Kaoru noticed about this girl, Linda, was that the bright red nail polish on her toenails was chipped in several places. Kaoru caught herself in a scornful thought about the personal hygiene of prostitutes. Slim, almost skinny, calves and thighs followed. A tiny, cheaply-made drawstring skirt hung from pubescent hips and Kaoru found herself playing the cynic and wondering why the woman couldn’t afford better clothes since she was sleeping with rich men for money. Her eyes trailing slowly upward, Kaoru noted with distaste the protrusion of a slightly rounded belly.

She could at least to try to look attractive, Kaoru thought vindictively.

Long wisps of black hair floated from behind the girl’s slim back and shoulders, barely concealed by a white halter-top. The white, smooth neck showed the faintest spots of blue hue, as if fingers had been crushed into her windpipe not too long ago.

Serves her right, Kaoru thought.

And then Kaoru stopped herself. What had she been thinking? She berated herself for condemning the woman in front of her. The girl was a stranger. An unknown. Kaoru’s mind flooded with a sense of shame for thinking ill of the girl without even trying to understand her circumstances.

It’s too easy to cast blame.

After all, Kaoru admitted to herself, she was trying to help an illegal organization and an assassin. In a twisted way, they were alike. Linda was selling her body and Kaoru felt as if she were selling her soul. Perhaps the woman was better off than she.

She glanced up to regard Linda’s face and instantly knew that she had been mistaken.

For one, instead of blatantly staring eyes, Kaoru was met with downcast eyelids. That fact alone startled her. Then the rest of Linda’s face began to materialize into Kaoru’s range of vision.

One might have said that Linda was pretty. She possessed an oval face framed by long, thick locks of black hair that fell in rivulets over her bare shoulders and near-naked chest. Her thin eyebrows arched above her delicately, downcast doe eyes and her full, lipstick red lips pouted beneath a small button nose.

She might have been considered somewhat pretty had it not been for the purple-dotted blue bruise swelling over one eye, the jagged cut on her lower lip and the dotted red line of a nasty scab that ran from her temple to her cheek.

Before she could help herself, Kaoru inhaled sharply.

“Nasty sight, isn’t she?” Amanda’s rough voice cut in.

Linda’s eyes flicked up quickly to glance at Amanda. Just as quickly, she looked down again. In that singular moment, Kaoru knew Linda’s eyes were an uncommon blue-grey.

“That’s right bitch,” Amanda snarled, the giggle gone.

Kaoru turned to glare at Amanda, a sharp rebuke forming on her lips. “Why are you talking to her like that?” she demanded, instantly taking Linda’s side.

Amanda smirked, and said in a voice devoid of emotion, “Why? What the hell do you care, Miss Prissy?”

“You shouldn’t, that’s why.”

Amanda laughed. It was a dry, grating sound that told of years of unhappiness. “Where’d you get this kid?” she asked Takasugi, who had strangely fallen silent. “Mind your damned business,” she said to Kaoru.

Kaoru anger shot up. “It’s my business if you’re mistreating her.”

“Mistreating?” Amanda chuckled mirthlessly, “We’ve all been mistreated our whole fucking lives. Too bad you weren’t around to save us all then.”

Amanda grabbed Linda’s arm with her thin fingers and Kaoru could see Linda wince with discomfort. Takasugi’s gaze fell to the floor and only Amanda’s fierce brown eyes and Kaoru’s blue eyes remained level.

“Why don’t you tell her,” Amanda jibed at Linda, who still refused to look up, “Tell her why you’re so screwed up. She thinks you didn’t deserve it.”

Linda pulled her arm away desperately, turning her face away. Her hand instantly went to her rounded belly. Amanda smirked cruelly.

“Even now,” Amanda hissed, raising a hand to slap the girl.

The smack resounded through the hall with agonizing clarity. Linda let her face remain turned away, a faint red handprint glowing on her cheek. Amanda was staring at her furiously, as if she were an enraged, abusive parent.

“Why won’t you just spit it out,” Amanda seethed, “Just say his name and they’ll leave you the fuck alone.”

Linda bowed her head again, her hand still cradling her stomach.

“Takasugi-san,” Linda’s soft whisper was both a plea and a reproach, reminding all of them of their present situation.

“Yes well,” Takasugi responded, his head snapping up and his smirk bright, “We should be off. Thank you ladies.”

Spinning on his heel and taking Kaoru by the elbow again, he began to march off. Kaoru looked over her shoulder as she was forcibly led from the back room, managing to catch a glimpse of Linda before the curtain flapped closed.

She was standing as an old woman, her hand over her belly and her forlorn blue-grey eyes lifted to watch them leave.

“Okay now,” Takasugi was saying, “I’m going to show you a map of the penthouse suite where the party’ll be so you can figure out where to hide the unconscious body guards.”

Distracted and playing with a lock of her pony-tailed hair, Kaoru asked, “Who was she?”

“Who was who?”

“Linda.”

“A prostitute.”

“Well, obviously,” Kaoru sighed, exasperated, “But why was she beaten up?”

“Why do you want to know?” Takasugi asked, lightly teasing.

“Just humour me.”

Takasugi’s joking tone dropped into something more serious, more unreadable. “She’s a hooker who works for a pimp who calls himself Dante. She had a boyfriend and got herself pregnant. A pregnant prostitute doesn’t sell so well so they’ve been trying to get the name of her boyfriend from her.”

“Oh,” Kaoru said, “So why doesn’t she just tell so they’ll stop beating her?”

“Maybe she loves him.”

“So?”

“So if they find out who the boyfriend is, they’ll extort him for money to pay for the time she won’t be making any money for them. Or they’ll kill him if he can’t pay. Or they’ll expose him to the media just to get even.”

“Seems to me that if the boyfriend loved her back, he should come forward.”

Takasugi shrugged. “Maybe he can’t. It’s hard to cast blame.”

Kaoru looked down and hugged her chest. “I feel sorry for them both,” she said softly.

Takasugi looked down at the top of her head and scratched his ear.

“Anyway,” he said, resuming his obnoxious tone, “All this bonding is making me noxious. Let’s hit the road, my perky breasted friend.”

Kaoru coloured and grit her teeth. “You perverted old man!”

“Now we’re back on track.”

The dim lights and pounding music were giving Kaoru a headache. She wandered half-heartedly through the gaudy penthouse suite, trying to scan the faces of the dancing women inconspicuously. Gyrating, bare flesh was everywhere. Sitting in the very centre of the room on a white leather couch was the only man in the suite. Allan Morton had a woman on his lap, several women plastering themselves to his sides and more than a few groupies trying to get his attention from the back.

Kaoru felt nothing but revulsion for the man. When Katsura had mentioned that Allan Morton would be surrounded by women at all times, she had naively assumed that he was therefore a young and dashing business type. On the contrary, Allan Morton had turned out to be a grey-haired, pig-nosed man with fat rolling in bulges from every visible part of him.

Kaoru resisted the urge to rub her temples and tried to remember what Takasugi had told her about working undercover as a hooker.

“Never look pissed off or grumpy,” he had instructed, “Always pretend to be stupid and sleazy. Sway your hips when you walk.”

Here he had tried to grab her hips to show her and she had batted him away. “Never push a man away,” Takasugi laughed, “A hooker being paid would never do that. Always make the customer happy. If anyone gives you trouble, just smile at them seductively. Let them feel you up or something.”

At Kaoru’s mortified look, Takasugi smirked and continued, “You’re a hooker aren’t you? Listen, you’ll be in a room full of women. The only man will be Allan and from what I hear, stay the hell away from him. But if you can’t, just play along and don’t let anyone suspect you’re not what you’re pretending to be. Otherwise you’re dead and we can’t help you till 2 AM.”

He paused for dramatic effect.

“If you can’t think of anything, just give a catty smile.”

The catty smile had been an instant facial expression as Kaoru had entered the suite. As the whores filed in, a tall woman had felt each woman’s clothes and crevices, checking for weapons. Obviously, that tall woman had been the first identified bodyguard. And Kaoru had barely been able to conceal a squeak of discomfort. However, she had managed to produce a somewhat catty smile and sashay away.

However, getting in had been the first obstacle and now ten more obstacles lay ahead. Gradually, as Kaoru feigned dancing, she catalogued every face that she recognized. Twirling slowly on the polished dance floor, she scanned the women’s faces.

At the edge of the room, standing at either side of the door, were two unknown women. Both were tall, lean women dressed in tight, black biker shorts and halter-tops. Kaoru’s gaze darted away from them so as not to be caught staring. While smiling cattily at no one in particular, Kaoru scolded herself for not realizing sooner that some bodyguards would obviously be standing by the exits.

Sure enough, as Kaoru peered between bodies to glance at the three bay windows, she spotted one unknown woman positioned at each.

That made five. Five more to locate.

A thought dawned on Kaoru. She glanced at one of the bay windows. The bodyguard there, a blond bombshell, was wearing tight blue biker shorts and a halter-top. Kaoru’s eyes shot to the other window. That bodyguard, a tiny brunette, was also wearing some version of the same. The third bay window sported a muscular woman in biker shorts and a halter-top.

Allan Morton’s bodyguards had a uniform.

Kaoru smothered a bounce of joy. Trying to suppress her unladylike habit of pushing through crowds, Kaoru attempted to sway her hips over to a more central location on the dance floor, earning her a few knowing glares from prostitutes she recognized from the Sakura Teahouse. Since her heels were so high, she had no need of rising to her tiptoes to see above most of the women’s heads. From her new vantage point, she easily picked out four other women in biker shorts and halter-tops. These were also women she had definitely not seen at the Sakura several hours before. Shaking her head in realization, Kaoru noticed that the four bodyguards, though dispersed through the crowd, formed a loose circle around Allan Morton’s current position.

Of course! The five first guards formed an outer perimeter and the four guards she had just identified formed an inner perimeter. Now the only one remaining to be found was the head bodyguard. Kaoru hazarded a guess that she would be right where Morton was.

Kaoru wiped the beading sweat from her forehead and turned to glance at Morton. Her face fell instantly.

Standing directly behind the disgusting man stood a tall, willowy woman dressed in a flashy red pair of biker shorts and red halter-top. Around the woman’s hips, a snug holster hosted a handgun and a large hunting knife. Morton’s head bodyguard was an exquisite woman with billowing red hair and sharp green eyes that roved the room incessantly.

Kaoru checked her frown and turned away, remembering that she need not worry over the chief bodyguard for the moment. Kaoru turned her blue eyes back towards one of the bay windows, studying the blond bodyguard. Glancing quickly at her watch, Kaoru knew she only had a little over an hour to complete her task. She inhaled deeply and enumerated to herself the various hiding places Takasugi had identified as places to possibly fight and stash the unconscious bodyguards. As soon as Kaoru started to weave her way through the dancing bodies, her heart’s pounding began to echo through her body and the loud music and twisting bodies seemed to fade away.

The clock had started and she had very little time.

Battousai, draped in black, strode purposefully through the neon-lit streets - although in reality he had no purpose at all. In fact, he had been wandering the city with a determined stride since nightfall, waiting impatiently for the appointed hour to come. His measured steps helped to easy the tension that stung his muscles together. But his mind was wandering unacceptably.

His orders were to be at the door to Morton’s penthouse suite at exactly 2 AM. His brain told him to wait. His body spoke otherwise. For the first time since the beginning, Battousai felt the urge to rush to the scene of the crime.

Unfortunately, he had the intelligence to recognize the reasons for his feelings of urgency.

The damn girl.

Her incompetence was screaming for him. Battousai strode through the gritty streets, ignoring all around him. The damn girl was bound to get herself into some kind of trouble. She would jeopardize the mission, he knew it.

But was it only about the mission?

Kenshin stopped dead in his tracks, causing a raucous young man to crash into his back.

“Hey,” the halfway drunk man stuttered angrily, “What the-”

The sudden yellow glare that Battousai sent him over a black-clothed shoulder sent the man staggering away. Kenshin, still standing still on one of the busiest street in Kyoto, berated himself. It was only this morning that he had decided to avoid her at all costs and dismiss her from his thoughts. As an assassin there was no place in his mind, let alone his heart, for frivolous emotions. His eyes narrowing in concentration and staring blindly at the pavement, Battousai weighed his options. If he rushed over the Moriya hotel before the appointed time, she might think that he was doing it for her. But then he might be able to stop her from ruining the well-planned out assignment. Even with his little lesson on self-defence, he seriously doubted that she would be able to take on so many trained bodyguards. On the other hand, if he did NOT go right away to the Moriya hotel, he risked letting her destroy his chances at getting to Morton. If she were to be discovered, Morton’s bodyguards would whisk him away. Battousai frowned.

Of course his worry was only about the mission.

With a determined nod, Battousai broke into a smooth, controlled run towards the Moriya hotel, Allan Morton and …

Kamiya Kaoru.

Kaoru was consciously slouching amid the dancing hookers, trying to regain her breath inconspicuously. There was a nasty bruise swelling on her thigh and a few scratches scattered over her bare skin. Her chest was heaving from the latest scuffle. But more than anything, her mind ached with all the captured memories. Almost an hour had passed and she had only managed to get rid of the outer perimeter of bodyguards.

The first bodyguard had actually been the hardest to lure out. Following Takasugi’s advice, Kaoru had purposefully passed a bodyguard by the window and pretended to be hiding something in her shirt. After ducking into a hidden alcove, it had been a matter of baiting and waiting. When finally the bodyguard had poked into the alcove to investigate, Kaoru had snatched away her memories with a touch to her forehead. The first bodyguard had fallen and Kaoru had dragged her unconscious form to one end of the secret room.

One by one, the other guards had trickled in to find out where their compatriot had disappeared - only to have their memories and consciousness taken from them. Though the first had been easy to beat, Kaoru grew increasingly tired. By the fifth, her mind and muscles were exhausted.

Though each had extraordinary fighting skills, all Kaoru needed to do was touch their forehead and concentrate. So, she had let each catch her in order to get close. Then, making use of Kenshin’s lessons, Kaoru had bit back at them and lunged in towards her goal.

Blinking back stinging tears from her latest acquisition, Kaoru had limped out from the alcove and hidden herself among the dancing women, trying to get a glimpse of the next four guards she would tackle.

Black spots danced in front of her eyes from the sheer weight of five new minds inside her own. Feeling a wave of dizziness pass over her, Kaoru fought to stay standing.

A cool hand on her upper arm steadied her. Kaoru looked back, startled.

Sultry eyes stared back from under heavy eyelashes.

“Come on now,” Jessica breathed, “Don’t let it get you.”

Kaoru blinked back at the prostitute, her eyes going round. “You-”

“Think you should get some life into you.” Without another word, Jessica slipped in behind the long-legged teen and wrapped an arm around her waist, swaying gently to the music.

“What are you-”

“Shush,” Jessica murmured, trailing fingers up Kaoru’s neck, “Just swallow.”

Suddenly, Jessica’s fingers darted between Kaoru’s lips. Kaoru felt a chalky tablet touch her tongue. As she coughed it into the palm her hand, Jessica slipped away silently and swiftly. Staring down at the small white tablet, Kaoru read wonderingly aloud.

“Tylenol.”

She looked over her shoulder for Jessica. But the woman had melted into the crowd. She glanced around, confused.

“It’s some help,” someone blew in her ear.

Kaoru almost jumped. Then scanned for anyone who might be talking to her.

“From Takasugi,” a quiet whisper from her left.

Kaoru whipped around but no one was looking at her.

“Said you might have a headache,” another murmur from behind.

She whirled to catch the speaker but they too were invisible. Kaoru looked back down at the Tylenol. She did have a splitting headache. Finally, she threw back her head and tossed the pill in, swallowing with a gulp.

Shaking the kinks loose from he neck, Kaoru pushed slowly through the crowd - towards the bodyguards in the centre.

Battousai was sprinting up the stairwell, his hand on the hilt of his sword. In a few moments, he would be outside the door of the penthouse suite. His face was set, his eyes cold and his movements smooth. His thoughts, on the other hand, were a jumbled assortment of contradictions. He still doubted that he should even be in the hotel yet.

He stopped instantly at the top of the stairwell, silencing his inner conversation. Like a shadow, Battousai slipped through the door and into the plush, velvet red lobby.

Kaoru inched her way closer to one of the bodyguards, her back towards Allan Morton. No need to catch his attention or the attention of his red-haired bodyguard. She was practically rubbing up against the blond bombshell of a bodyguard when she stopped to wonder what to do. How on earth could she get this woman out of sight?

In the end, her choice was made for her.

“You’re a bit close, missy,” the woman’s deep voice interrupted Kaoru’s scheming, “Whores should rub up against the boss, not me.”

Kaoru looked up, her eyes plainly showing her annoyance. Before she could stop herself, a retort shot from her lips, “What’s it to you, Madam Amy Smith?”

The blond bodyguard’s eyes widened angrily. “How did you know my name, bitch?”

Kaoru, fumbling for a catty smile, attempted to giggle. “Um, I can’t believe I got it on the first try!”

“I don’t buy it,” the bodyguard, Amy Smith, snarled, grabbing onto Kaoru’s arm in a crushing grip. Amy raised her arm to beckon to the chief bodyguard at Morton’s side. Kaoru spun away quickly, giving the redhead a view of the back of her head but nothing else.

“Come on, bitch,” Amy’s deep voice sounded menacingly, “We’re taking a walk.”

Kaoru was yanked forward as Amy pulled her through the crowd of dancing women and towards the double oak doors. Taking care not to let the chief bodyguard see her face as they passed the centre of the room, Kaoru glanced around at the other three bodyguards who were watching her exit calmly. As she and the hulking blond began to pass another bodyguard, Kaoru suddenly threw her weight against the woman.

“You skank!” the blond cried, retaining a bruising grip on her arm.

With a curt nod, the other female bodyguard grabbed onto Kaoru’s arm. Aware that she was creating a scene, Kaoru kicked at both of captors. Twisting painfully in their grasp, she was able to land a couple of good kicks. It earned her a punch in the stomach and two more bodyguards heading her way.

Obviously, Mr. Morton did not like to see scuffles. With quick efficiency, the four bodyguards were around Kaoru in an instant, pushing and pulling her towards the doors.

“Figures Leila and Lily would take a break right when we need them to throw some trash out,” Amy snorted as she hauled the doors open.

Kaoru held back a self-satisfied smile. Then she was unceremoniously tossed to the red carpet onto her hands and knees outside the suite. Amy and another bodyguard stood in front of her and two others were behind. Kaoru mentally catalogued them: there was Amy, the blond, to start with. The one standing with her was a short brunette. Behind her, Kaoru saw a pale woman with bleached white hair cropped short and another bronzed woman with shoulder length brown hair.

“You girls want to get back to the party?” Amy asked the two behind Kaoru.

“Can’t we have some fun?” the white-haired woman answered with a devilish smirk, “This bitch won’t take long to dispose of.”

The grand oak doors swung shut, dulling the pounding rhythms and the bright lights.

“Want to talk?” Amy smiled coldly while flipping out a dagger, “Or scream?”

Kaoru looked up from the floor, her eyes defiant. “You won’t be able to make me scream,” she declared staunchly.

“Is that so?” Amy bent over and grabbed a fistful of Kaoru’s ponytail. “You seem a bit overconfident,” she hissed, pulling Kaoru’s face up painfully to her own.

Kaoru grimaced in pain and raised a twitching finger. Amy smirked, flipping back strands of golden hair.

“Begging, are we?” she smacked her lips at the pathetic way the girl was lifting her fingers to touch her forehead.

The other three began to laugh, enjoying the sight of it. However their laughs died abruptly as their comrade suddenly slumped down to the floor in a heap. Shocked into a panic, they stared at the little black-haired girl, who was struggling to stand and panting heavily.

“What the hell?” the brunette cried angrily.

Kaoru managed to raise herself to her feet, hunched and shaking. The brunette rushed at her, her fists poised to strike. But as the woman threw her weight forward, Kaoru swerved to one side and brought her clasped hands down onto the bodyguards back. The woman fell but before Kaoru could reach down to her forehead, another bodyguard sprang upon her. Kaoru’s front leg swept that one off her feet.

“There are three of us you know,” the bronzed woman commented cruelly as her comrades stood in a circle around Kaoru, “And you won’t be able to take us all.”

Kaoru stood in the middle of their deadly circle and straightened to her full height, staring each down with determined blue eyes. Her stance was admirable, considering that she was weakened and outnumbered.

“Slightly unfair odds.”

All of the women spun instantly towards the deep, male voice. From the shadows of a hidden corner, a lean figure emerged.

“Don’t you think?” Battousai asked, standing casually with one hand loosely wrapped around the hilt of his sword.

“Who are you?” demanded the brunette.

“The weight that tips the scale,” Battousai said quietly, pulling his sheathed sword from the belt at his waist.

“What the hell does that mean?” the woman sputtered, “And what can you do anyway with a sheathed sword?”

Battousai closed his eyes for an instant, only for an instant. In the next he was on the other side of the room and the brunette lay on the floor behind him, unconscious.

“Kenshin!” Kaoru protested.

“Do your job!” Battousai hissed at her, as the bronzed bodyguard launched herself at him.

Kaoru tried to nod her understanding but found that her neck was suddenly being choked from behind. She grabbed at the chain that the other bodyguard was wrapping around her neck. With a loud cry, Kaoru jammed her elbow into the other’s stomach. The woman only pulled tighter. Struggling to inhale, Kaoru wrapped her fingers around the chain and suddenly dropped to the floor, flipping the bodyguard over her head. The bodyguard twisted in midair, trying to land on her feet. But Kaoru held fast to the chain and pulled forward as hard as she could so that the woman could not gain footing. Rather, she stumbled forward and fell face first with a crash. Dropping the chain, Kaoru bent over to roll the pale woman over.

As she reached out with her fingers, a fist closed around her wrist. The pale bodyguard’s disturbingly grey eyes opened suddenly.

“What the hell are you anyway?” she hissed, her voice low and her grey eyes sharp.

Kaoru pulled back instinctively, dislodging her wrist from the bodyguard’s grip. The woman lunged forward and aimed to catch Kaoru’s neck in the crook of her arm and force her to the ground. But just as her arm connected, Kaoru thrust her hip behind the woman and, using the contact her already had, pushed the woman backwards. The white-haired woman fell backwards and Kaoru leapt atop her, straddling her. Without another moment of hesitation, Kaoru leaned in and firmly pressed her fingertips to the woman’s pale forehead.

Instantly a jarring shock shot up from her fingertips and she felt as if she were being sucked into an unending tunnel of colours and sounds. Kaoru gritted her teeth as she was caught up in a stream of intense emotions and scenes. Pulled by her fingertips through a black hole of image and sound, she sought the strength to survive the overload of sensations. She broke as if she were the crest of a wave, crashing down amidst the sharp rocks of life. The pains received and dealt out, the bitter truths learned and lived by and the harsh discipline of a bodyguard assaulted Kaoru’s consciousness and threw her mind into convulsions. It shook her to the core and then spit her out, like the whale spat Jonah onto the sand. She lay, naked and burning, on the sands of an unknown continent. And then, the void of silence.

A lifetime in a minute.

Kaoru willed her eyes to open. Hazily and slowly, she lifted heavy lids and focused tired eyes. Two yellow headlights? Furrowing her brows, she peered upwards. A cat looking at her? She blinked, focusing her bleary eyes.

“Kaoru?”

Battousai was leaning over and staring down at her. Kaoru looked past his iridescent amber eyes to see the dim ceiling lights above. She pushed herself onto her elbows and sat up. Looking around, she saw the three bodyguards propped up against a wall - unconscious but tied up.

“How long have I been out?” Kaoru asked, rubbing her forehead.

“Long enough,” Battousai replied curtly, standing abruptly.

Kaoru shot a dark glance at his back and pushed herself to her feet slowly. “What do I do now?”

Battousai glared at the framed poster on the wall. “What you are supposed to be doing,” his tone was measured and steely.

Kaoru snorted, then pressed her lips together and stared at his back. Battousai remained silent, his body rigidly planted in front of a tacky poster and his eyes trained at the mish-mash of colours. The awkward silence stretched between them like an ocean.

“Oh fine,” Kaoru huffed, turning toward the doors.

Kenshin almost sighed. “Wait,” he commanded quietly.

Kaoru paused just as her fingers were brushing the handle. “What?”

Battousai swung around swiftly and strode towards her, his eyes staring at something behind her head. Kaoru found herself taking a deep breath involuntarily as Battousai’s intense presence drew near.

“Did the chief bodyguard see you?” Battousai asked curtly.

“Not my face,” Kaoru replied defensively.

“So she saw you being taken out of the room?”

“Yeah, so what?”

“She’ll recognize you.”

“How would you know?”

“Anyone with half a brain would put two and two together, little girl.”

Kaoru drew her shoulders up angrily. “I am NOT a little girl, you-”

“Let down your hair.”

Kaoru took a step back. “What? Why?”

Battousai’s golden eyes moved from the point beyond her head and fixed themselves onto Kaoru’s. “Let down your hair so she won’t recognize you from the back.”

“That’s stupid.”

“It will cover your back and your shirt. Do it.”

“Oh fine,” Kaoru sighed and lifted her arms to undo her ponytail.

Immediately, Battousai spun around and marched to the other side of the room to stare at the ugly painting again. Kaoru undid the tie in her ponytail and shook her hair loose, letting the midnight locks cascade over her shoulders and down her back. She massaged her scalp lightly and sighed.

Battousai, staring at the reflection in the glass of the poster, watched as Kaoru lifted her slender arms to flip her long hair over her shoulders. He watched as she bent forward to pull the edges of her jean skirt down and then straightened to pull the tiny black tube top higher. Kaoru brushed her delicate fingers over the smooth skin of her chest and stomach, as if there were flecks of lint on her clothing. He observed silently as she twisted her elegant white neck to glance at her tight bottom. Stretching and wringing out her lean, slim legs, the ‘little’ girl turned to stare at his back. Battousai, though pretending not to, stared back at her reflection.

“Okay,” Kaoru announced, widening her arms, “How do I look?”

“I don’t care how you look,” Battousai said in a deadpan tone.

He watched as her childlike brows furrowed at him in response. She shrugged and turned. A sudden blast of light and music burst from the oak doors as Kaoru quietly pulled one open a crack and slipped in. Then the great door swung shut quietly and Battousai was left to stare at a vanished reflection in dark silence.

We cannot do this, he whispered, pronouncing the sentence on himself.

Kaoru forced herself to concentrate on pretending to be something she wasn’t and on keeping her eyes averted from the chief bodyguard. The pounding music and flashy lights constituted an unwelcome atmosphere after the cool darkness of the lobby. She wove her way slowly through the crowd, slowly nearing the centre of the suite where she would wait for the appointed time. Above the music, Kaoru could hear the boisterous laugh of an old man. She repressed a shiver.

“That one!” the crackling voice was yelling, “Bring me that one over there!”

“Who?” a female voice sounded from nearby, “This one?”

“No! Left! Left!”

Kaoru turned slightly to see one of the prostitutes moving and pointing amid the dancing women. She moved to stand beside another woman and pointed.

“This one?”

“No!” cried Allan Morton, “Left! LEFT!”

“But sir,” the prostitute suggested coyly, trailing her hands down the woman’s waist, “This one is so beautiful and refined. Why would you need another?”

Morton face scrunched up in an angry grimace. “NO!” he yelled like a spoiled child, “The left one! LEFT!”

The prostitute, resigned, stood beside Kaoru and pointed. “This one?”

“Yes!” the man called in broken Japanese, “Bring her. I want her now.”

Kaoru eyes widened as she felt herself pushed in the direction of the disgusting man. She heard a muttered apology from the prostitute pushing her forward. Kaoru fought her urge to make a grimace of disgust. Instead a half-hearted catty smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She suddenly felt very naked.

“Ah!” Morton exclaimed, his beady eyes bulging, “This young, tender one!”

With a fat hand, Morton latched onto Kaoru’s skirt and pulled. To avoid losing her skirt, Kaoru sat - and found her bottom resting on Morton’s knees. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Beautiful,” Morton snivelled, sniffing out her neck with his pig nose.

Kaoru tried not to move or stare at the black mole that peeped out from beneath his thinning grey hair. She fought hard to keep still as she felt his pudgy, sweaty palms move up her legs. The old man giggled.

“Wonder what’s up here?” he asked, sliding a finger up her skirt.

Kaoru could not stop herself. She gave off a convulsive shiver, knocked his hand away from her leg and stood, glaring down. Gradually, however, her indignant glare became self-conscious glancing around. Morton was staring up at her quizzically as if he was child who had lost his toy. The red haired bodyguard was arching an eyebrow at her. Kaoru’s skin began to crawl. She glanced quickly at the chief bodyguard, waiting for her to start noticing that the other guards were missing somehow. Morton, his sweaty grip surprisingly strong, pulled Kaoru down by the wrist. He peered into her face and she averted her eyes.

“You’re not a whore at all!” Morton suddenly exclaimed.

Kaoru’s body went cold.

“Indeed she is not,” a soft feminine voice came from above.

Kaoru’s heart froze. She looked up to catch her betrayer in her gaze. But, with surprise, she found her eyes met calmly by blue-grey - the previously forlorn eyes of Linda.

OMAKE

The black-garbed assassin quietly darted into the dimly lit Sakura Teahouse, his amber eyes flickering about the room. His grip on his sword pommel tightened, as his gaze fell upon a certain black-haired youth, and the color from his hair seemed to bleed into his face. The golden tint to his irises faded away, leaving very wide violet eyes, as Kenshin continued to stare, slack-jawed, at his charge. Finally, "ORO!?"

Kaoru cursed under her breath in a most un-ladylike manner, as the entire room went deadly silent at Kenshin's most unusual exclamation, all eyes turned towards the black clad figure.

"HE'S PACKING! GET HIM!"

The red-haired assassin blinked in surprise as several toughs began slowly advancing towards him. He was sure that his swords were still concealed beneath the cloak... Kenshin spared one quick glance down, noting the unusual bulge at his waist. He quickly took inventory of his weapons, checking that the swords hilts weren't causing the bulge. *That only leaves...* His face turned a degree redder, as he realized what was causing the bulge. *... crap.*

"... Oh my." Kaoru felt a blush make it's way onto her face, and she turned her gaze to one side, away from Battousai...