Hello everyone of the RK fandom! I haven't written RK in a long time so hopefully I can do it justice, yeah?

I have no clue who to put as the two main characters o.O perhaps time will tell...

Disclaimer: I am not making any profit from this despite how much I need it. All the characters that you recognize belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki. The characters you do not recognize are my own.

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Enemy

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Okina scrutinized the woman before him. Long black hair, pale skin, poise and beauty to rival the court ladies of Edo castle. A lovely specimen of a female by all means. But her eyes. They were a piercing frigid blue. There was something in those eyes that made it feel dangerous to be in her presence.

"The Aoiya was attacked last night?" her voice was smooth and lilting.

"Yes," the old man stroked his beard. She doubtless knew everything about the attack.

"You sent one of them home with a gift," the smile that crossed her delicate features did nothing to warm the atmosphere around her, "When is your answer?"

A corner of Okina's beard twitched. So, she knew about the whole thing. "Nothing escapes you, does it?"

"I wouldn't say that. Why else would I ask of your answer?" two perfectly sculpted eyebrows went up a little but the woman's expression remained otherwise unchanged.

"I think... you would have your methods of finding out," his let his eyes dart to the rice paper door, knowing that the action would not be lost on her.

Blue eyes flickered in response before a smile settled on her face in earnest, "Yes, but there is no harm in decorum."

Really, she is pretty when she smiles. But, there was a reason that he did not, would not tease this woman. This particular woman… He sighed, "No, I suppose not."

The old man was right. It wasn't that there was nothing that escaped her… but whatever did… she left it unknown on purpose or it was hidden very well. And if something was hidden to that extent… well then she definitely made it her business to know.

Standing by the temple, she looked at the trees around her, "Hikaru. Report," she said quietly.

A female voice drifted towards her from an undistinguishable source, carried by the wind, "The Tiger grows restless. After the demon has been killed and his fingers cut off, the hunt will begin."

"Dismissed," a faint rustle reached her ears, "Takaiwa. Anything new?"

"Perry will arrive again as a demon in Tokyo," the light baritone reached her from somewhere behind her.

She drew a breath of air sharply, "Tell the wolf... and say that Ruka sends her regards."

The image of a light-haired man bowing slightly flickered before her momentarily and once again, she was alone.

"Aoshi."

He turned at the sound of the voice. Someone had followed him from the lookout point, he knew that. It wasn't Misao-this ki was different, more mature, more deadly. Something tugged at the back of his mind. A voice… a voice that had somehow managed to pierce the walls he had built around his mind. No… he had heard it because it had already been inside his mind when the barriers that blocked out the rest of the unnecessary world had gone up. This voice had followed him through his wanderings. And yet it had seemingly disappeared when he set foot in Kyoto.

"Show yourself," his eyes picked out where the leaves didn't seem to quite follow the wind, however convincing the movement was.

A woman melted out of the trees before him dressed in a red and black shinobi-gi.

An unreadable emotion flashed through Aoshi's eyes when she appeared. Once again, the voice in his mind pulled at his inner being. Something about how the blue of her eyes reflected… So familiar… Something about her… He shut his eyes and, when he opened them, the voice went quiet.

"So," she broke eye contact and looked away. Something akin to bitterness crept into her cold, hushed voice, "This is what you are now."

He narrowed his eyes, "I become what I must." This woman knew nothing. What gave her the right to speak of him with such distaste? It was his choice, after all. It had nothing to do with her.

"To do what?" she hissed. "Do you really think turning your back on everyone will help achieve your goals?"

"You know nothing of my goals," his voice pierced the air like a frozen dagger.

Her blue eyes flared, "I know nothing? If you truly believe that… then you are blind, Aoshi. Blind." She spat the words out like bitter ice.

In an instant one of his blades was drawn and at her throat, the pressure broke skin and a trickle of blood ran down her neck. "I could kill you right now," his dark eyebrows came together in a scowl.

She took in his menacing whisper without batting an eye. I am not afraid of you. "So do it. What would it accomplish?"

It was after he noted the complete absence of fear in her eyes that he felt the long bo-shuriken poised to strike just under his ribcage. Gazing into her clear blue orbs, he was struck by a feeling of vertigo... like he was falling into them. Then, as suddenly as he had sought to strike her down, he withdrew and sheathed his kodachi, "It would be a waste of my strength," was all he offered in explanation before turning away from her smoothly and making his way out of the clearing.

"Is it wise…"

Shinomori Aoshi's ears pricked unconsciously at her quiet voice.

"Is it wise, I wonder," she knew fully well that he was listening, "To turn your back to an enemy."

He stopped in his tracks for a moment before continuing. No. It was never wise to turn his back on an enemy. But that voice… something had told him that she was not an enemy… that she was anything but an enemy… Something about how she had been able to see straight through him and counter him without his noticing…

She watched the creamy white of his jacket fade into the shadows and stood watching the precise spot where she lost sight of him for a time. The woman brought a hand to the cut on her neck. A fine line appeared between her eyebrows as she studied the smear of blood on her fingers.

Perhaps… he is not beyond saving.

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shinobi-gi: ninja outfit basically

bo-shuriken: it was a shuriken that was basically shaped like what popular culture deemed the kunai; in essence, a throwing knife

So, hopefully you guys understand what's kind of sort of going on? It'll become clear in a few chapters, hopefully.

Thank you for reading! Please review! :D