Note from the author: In no way do I claim rights to anything Rurouni Kenshin.
1878, Tokyo (11th Year of Meiji)-
The office was already full of voices when Tenma arrived. He was anything but timid, unless in the presence of his superiors. It wasn't often they called him, and when he was he usually regretted it. He'd been the government's dog for years, ever since the revolution.
He knocked and waited. The door creaked open and Tenma jumped back to avoid being whacked in the face by it. He hated these strange western doors. The man waited for the others to pass and then stepped inside.
His supervisor looked up from his desk. Both of them had gotten their positions after fighting in the Bakamatsu. Tenma wished his job were mere deskwork.
"Oh, good," his boss droned. "I need you to check on something for me, Tenma."
The man sighed. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. The only time he'd been called to this room was whenever they needed him to extinguish something threatening to the new government. These days, he was hardly ever needed, and he had begun to hope that he wouldn't be again.
The elder lowered his voice so only Tenma could hear. "Word's gotten back to me that one of our hitokiri is still running loose."
That took him by surprise. It had been years since he'd had to deal with one of the assassins. "How?" he demanded.
"This one escaped us before the chaos ended. We've located him in a small neighborhood here in Tokyo." Tenma watched as a small sheet of paper was slid across the desk and he gaped at the name. He'd figured the phantom of the Bakamatsu had perished silently years ago. What was the most feared assassin, Himura Battosai doing at a dojo?