From: Ashfae Forgot to mention: This story is placed after the Kyoto Saga, before the Revenge Arc. Spoilers for Kyoto Saga. Probably there will eventually be spoilers for Kenshin's past, but there aren't any yet. ******************************************************** [Tokyo] "Yahiko! *Yahiko!*" Kaoru's voice rang out into the night as she called as loudly as she could, not caring how late it was or who she woke up. She was beginning to become seriously worried; Yahiko had left to walk Dr. Genzai's granddaughters home, as he often did. Dr. Genzai didn't live far away; Yahiko should have been back within an hour, even if he'd gotten distracted. But he wasn't. It was now many, many hours after sunset, and he still wasn't home. **It's not like him. It's just not like him! **Something must have happened.** That was the thought that made her bite her lip in worry. Yahiko could protect himself better than most- nobody knew that better than Kaoru, she was his *teacher*- but they didn't have the usual sorts of enemies. If someone had decided to get at Kenshin through his friends, or one of the members of the gang Yahiko used to be a pickpocket for had decided they wanted him...he wouldn't be an easy target, but he was still just a ten-year-old boy... **Something *must* have happened!** And there was nothing she could do! With a gasp that was almost a sob, Kaoru stopped in her tracks. "Kaoru-dono..." She whirled on her companion. "Don't even start, Kenshin! I'm telling you, something must have happened to him! And I *won't* go home, not until I find him!" Kenshin sighed, and put a hand on her shoulder. "*Kaoru-dono*," he said, his voice almost stern. "I agree that something is wrong. But one of us should be at home, in case he returns. And I have more experience with finding people in the dark than you do." The gentle but pointed reminder of who- or what- Kenshin was- or had been- was enough to quiet her. "But..." she protested feebly. "Please, Kaoru-dono. I promise I'll find him and bring him home, all right?" What could she possibly say to that? Kaoru nodded slowly, and turned to return to the dojo. Then she paused. "Kenshin?" "Hai de gozaro yo?" **Even now, he's being formal...** She sighed. "Please be careful." He nodded. ******************************************************** Not far away, three figures sat in silence on the floor of a small room. A single candle burned, creating more shadows than light; dark forms flickered on the walls behind the three people. Katsuhiro had just finished listening to Misaki's story, and was contemplating. "It is an honor to meet Sagara-daishou's wife," he said eventually. "But what exactly do you want from us? The Sekihoutai are dead; Sanosuke and I are the only ones left. What do you hope to accomplish?" Misaki's chin lifted proudly. "I want revenge. The government stole my husband; they killed him as easily as a person might kill a rabid dog. But worse, they stole his honor. I want his name cleared- the names of anyone who was a part of the Sekihoutai. I want to *hurt* this corrupt government, which sacrificed a good man to cover its own mistakes." Her eyes flashed. "And most of all, I want the man who ordered the attack. Shindo Tatewaki." Both Sano and Katsu drew in quick breaths; they remembered very well the night when Shindo Tatewaki had suddenly revealed his true colors, and ordered his men to fire on the Sekihoutai. They hadn't had a chance...it was sheer luck that had saved Katsu, and stubborness that kept Sanosuke alive. Katsu's eyes narrowed. "I'll do it. Whatever the plan is, I'm with you." Misaki's smile was composed partially of relief and partially of anticipation. "Thank you," she said quietly. "And...?" She glanced at Sano. He stared into the candleflame and didn't say anything. Katsu looked at him. "Last time we met, you said that I was following the wrong path, and I listened. I gave up my dreams of bringing down the Meiji with my bombs, and began writing. I wanted to get people's attention. Now that I've gotten attention, I'll return to my other weapons with pleasure. But you? You're happy here, with your friends. You brought Sagara-daishou's wife here, but are you sure you want to do this?" Sanosuke closed his eyes. He could remember clearly what Kenshin had told him during their first battle, long ago. **"Did the Sekihoutai teach you to destroy the Ishin Shishi? Or to bring in the new era?"** **Sorry, Kenshin. My first loyalty will always be the Sekihoutai. I hope you'll understand.** He took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. "I'm in." "Good!" Katsu clapped him on the back. "This time we won't fail, my friend." Sano shook his head slowly. "No." He got to his feet. "We should start right away. Tonight, even." Katsu looked surprised. "You're not going to say goodbye to your friends?" **Kenshin...Jou-chan...Yahiko...Megumi.** "It's better if I don't. This way, it'll be harder for Kenshin to find out what we're up to. I don't want him following us again." Katsu nodded. "That's true. He prevented us last time." Misaki looked confused. "Kenshin?" Katsu opened his mouth to speak, but Sano interrupted. "Someone I know. He found out about a plan Katsu and I had to blow up an important government building here, and stopped us. If I see him, he'll know that something's up." Sano looked at Katsu meaningfully. The other man got the point and said nothing. "He's a good guy, but he wouldn't like this. It's better if we leave quickly, and quietly." "We can leave right now, if you wish. I want to get started as soon as I can. We'll need more people." "You have a plan, then," Sano asked, already expecting the answer. "You know where he is." Misaki smiled again, and this time there was a cold edge to it. "Yes." **I'm sorry, Kenshin.** ******************************************************** Kenshin hunted. It was familiar, easy...part of him was concerned about how easy it was to get back into the habit of being the hunter. **Not the same**, he reminded himself. **Not at all the same.** This was not Kyoto, and he was no longer an assassin. This was Tokyo, and he was looking for a friend. All the difference in the world, even if he was using the same skills. But he had not found anything so far. It was the middle of the night, so even if there had been witnesses to anything that might have occurred, they were likely asleep. He had nothing to go on, and all he could think of to do- short of scouring the entire city, which would take a long time but could be done, if necessary- was to scour the route that Yahiko usually used to get from the dojo to Dr. Genzai's. And he found something. Not much, but the marks of a scuffle. It was curious. Kenshin frowned. It was just as likely that two drunks had gotten into a fistfight here...but he wondered. Not enough information...all he could do was keep scouring the area, and hope that something more turned up. ******************************************************** [Kyoto] "Okashira." Misao blinked and looked up from the book she'd been studying. Her eyes focused slowly on the figure in the doorway- Kuro, breathing heavily and with a strange look in his eyes. Misao felt her heart sink; Kuro had been watching one of the restruants downtown, waiting to see if another of the mysterious murders would take place. If he was here now, then..."Kuro, what happened?" The older ninja swallowed hard. "There was a boy- he couldn't have been more than thirteen. I didn't even see him at first, he looked so ordinary. He walked into the Kihatake just like an ordinary customer, then pulled out two knives and began stabbing people right and left. It took everyone a few seconds to notice, it was so sudden...when he saw me coming towards him he stabbed himself in the heart. He was dying when I reached him, and just smiled when I asked him why he'd done it." Kuro's eyes filled with tears suddenly. "He was just a boy," he whispered. Misao bit her lip. **This is horrible.** "Do the police know yet?" "Saitou arrived only minutes later. He asked me a couple of questions and told me to report to you." **What do I do? What's a leader supposed to do in a situation like this?** "Thank you, Kuro. Get some rest or something...it's been a long day." "Hai. Misao..." She looked up, a bit surprised at the use of her name. "I'm sorry." The words astonished her. There was real pain in his eyes- not just for what he'd witnessed, but...shame? Guilt, for having failed to protect people? For having failed her, personally? Tears were stinging at her eyes. "It's okay, Kuro," she said, a small part of her amazed at how even her voice was. "Get some rest." Once he'd left, Misao put her head into her hands. She couldn't find words to name her grief- couldn't be entirely certain of what she was grieving. The deaths of innocents, the mysterious killers, her own growing responsibility and awareness of how unfit she was to be dealing with the situation... **We have nothing to go on. Nothing. How do you find the sort of madman who'd be behind something like this? There must be someone planning this- it can't be a series of coincidences. But how do you find out who?** **I have no idea what I'm doing.* The thought was familiar, but no less painful. **When I declared myself okashira, I didn't even think about what it meant. It was still a good idea- *someone* had to take charge- but I didn't think it'd last. I certainly didn't think I'd ever be in a situation like this!** She wanted so badly to do a good job...just as much as she wanted to stop all the awful things that were happening. **But how? How?** Misao curled up in a ball on her futon, all at once feeling very young, and very alone. ******************************************************** [Tokyo] **Itai, itai, itai, itai...** Yahiko's first thought upon waking was that his head *hurt*. It was very distracting; it took several minutes for him to work around it. **Feels like one of Kaoru's bashings, only worse...** **Where the hell am I?** He remembered the attack as he was walking home...a gag covering his mouth, a bag thrown over him, then something hitting him on the head. **Great**, he thought bitterly. **When I get home, Kaoru will never let me live it down. Some martial artist!** Even as he berated himself inwardly, Yahiko was viewing his surroundings. He was in a small, dark room; the gag was still covering his mouth, and his shinai- always with him- was missing. His hands and feet were tied; he struggled with the knots for several minutes before deciding that they were too tight for him to get out of. **If I get home...** Now he began to worry. This situation was bad, very bad; whoever had captured him wasn't playing games. **It's gotta be somebody trying to get at Kenshin, it always is. You'd think they'd give up one of these days. It doens't look like I can get out of here, not yet. My best bet is to keep my mouth shut and try to figure out what their plan is.** The door creaked, and Yahiko smiled inwardly. **Good timing.** He arranged himself so that he'd look as if he were still unconscious and closed his eyes just as the door opened and two men walked in, talking. One of them held a lantern. "...in a few days. We won't find anything else out here." "Yes, I agree. We should leave as soon as possible, before the local police get on our tail. I've heard some distrbing rumors..." "True...we don't want the attention or the complications. Tomorrow morning, then?" "Yes." There was a pause; Yahiko could hear feet scuffling on the floor, walking towards him. "Hell, Kuboya, how hard did you hit him?" "Hard enough. He'll come to sooner or later. What do we care? He's alive and in one piece, that's all we needed." "Akatsu-sama won't like it if he's lost his wits." "Forget the boy's wits and worry about your own, jackass. Worry about it in the morning; I'm tired, and we'll need an early start if we're going back to Kyoto." There was more conversation- mostly bickering- but Yahiko ignored it. **Kyoto! What in the hell are these jerks doing dragging me to Kyoto? Are they setting a trap for Kenshin? I've got to get free...got to warn him!** **Right. I can't even get my hands untied, and now I've got these two bozos in the same room. There's no way I'm getting out of here tonight. But now I know their plan, and some sort of opportunity will have to come up in the morning. All I have to do is wait until then, and pay attention.** **Kenshin, be careful...** ******************************************************** -dono: "Miss" Hai de gozaro yo: A very polite "yes", Kenshin-style. -daishou: Boss, captain Kihatake: Yellow Field (see note below) itai: Ouch Kuboya: Not sure. I think this means something like "nine small fires." It's not supposed to really mean anything, I just needed a name. "Akabeko" translated means "red house", "Shirobeko" is "white house." Near as I can guess, Aoiya means "green valley" (possibly blue valley). When I named the restruant, I tried to pick something in the same vein; I don't know if it's a valid name or not. It was the best I could come up with on short notice. I promise, all these things that are happening are connected (or rather, they will be). I also promise that the story won't always stay this serious. Give it one more chapter or therabouts. =) Oh, and yes (several people have asked this), I also promise much, much more of Aoshi and Misao. (heck, the story started originally just being about them...I'm not sure how it turned into this thing, as much as I love it now) On that note, bedtime...(4:30am, yikes...how is it that I only ever finish these chapters at ungodly hours of the morning?) =) Ashley B. AKA Ashfae ashfae@duct-tape.mit.edu http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/8264/anime.html "I have no life! And I can prove it mathematically!" --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- For BUFFY or BABYLON 5, SPAWN or SOUTH PARK, NextPlanetOver.com sells the cool stuff you want. Shop now and get your FIRST ORDER FREE!! Click Here ------------------------------------------------------------------------