Hello people, this is my new Rurouni Kenshin story. Ha ha… I've got the writer's block for Are you Sure About This, so this is my new story! Right now, it is mainly Saitou and the Kenshingumi that appear, but eventually, almost everyone will make an appearance, so hang on tight if you are reading to find your favourite character!

This is rated M because of gore primarily. There will be no limes or lemons, and no yaoi.

So anyway, do read and review people!

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Death along the outskirts

The farmer rode cautiously down the road, urging his horse into a trot. The cart he was sitting on rumbled dangerously, but stayed intact. It has been a decade since the unrest of the Tokugawa era, but the roads at night were still dangerous. It hadn't been his choice to stay out so late into the night, but the trading had gone on for too long, and he hadn't been comfortable resting in the place of his trader. Thus, here he was, desperately trying to reach home at the fastest of all paces, without causing his horse to go crippled along the rough and bumpy road.

It was by far the dumbest thing he had ever done. Strange things have been happening in the wild lately, strange events that no one could explain. Word has spread around that some sort of evil had arrived, though what, no one could tell. None have lived to recount it.

Suddenly, the farmer froze, his hands still holding on to the reigns of the horse. For a moment there, he thought he had heard a very soft noise… like a sigh. But there was nobody around in the deserted road. Dark as it may be, he was still sure of that.

Yet, he could not shake the feeling that there was someone watching him.

Feeling quite foolish, he called out, "Is there anybody there? This is just a farmer returning home with no spoils! Please do not attack me, I mean no harm."

He was greeted by silence, which made him both relieved yet apprehensive.

"There is nothing I can give you," he tried.

Suddenly, the horse neighed. It wasn't a calm call, it was a whinny of fear. Without warning, it bolted, sending the farmer flying from the cart. Yelling in pain and cursing, the farmer landed on the road, winded and bruised.

"Stupid animal!" he snarled, more out of fear than anger, "Get back here now!" The only sound he could hear was the horse making its way down the mud road rapidly.

Groaning, he climbed to his feet, feeling vulnerable and exposed. Shaking his head, he started on the long walk home, more desperate than ever to reach the warm recesses of his house.

Then he heard it again.

Frozen in terror he strained his ears, trying to catch the elusive noise again. But there was only silence.

"Who is it?" he screeched in a voice he did not recognise. "There is no good in harming me! I have no money on me. There is nothing I can give you?" Again, there was silence.

Then he heard another noise. An odd scratching, tapping sound, much like the noise of a beetle in flight, hitting itself against the wall.

"Who is it?" he screamed. "There is nothing I can give you!"

"But there is."

He screamed, arms flailing in terror as he ran, fleeing as fast as he could, the feel of warm, moist breath still on his ear. But it was so dark, so dark he could not see a thing. His eyes could have been closed for all he knew. Where were the lights from the village fires? Where were the noises of livestock and people milling around?

Then he heard the sound of leaves rustling and he gave another wail of terror. He couldn't tell if the sound had come from his right or his left… or behind him. Disorientated, he ran, unaware he had left the mud road until he fell into a large pool of water.

Some part of his mind told him that he had ended up in the rice fields, but all he could do was sit there and stare into blackness.

Then the scratching sound came again. This time, to his right.

"No…" he moaned, unable to move. Against his skin, he felt the ripples of water as something approached him. "Kami-sama… no…"

He couldn't see a thing, but he could feel the presence standing above him. There was another soft sigh and he moaned in terror. Then there was a different sound, and this, he could identify.

It was the sound of flesh being ripped open.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

A very calm Saitou Hajime stood stoically inside the ring of horrified passer-bys, gazing down at the still figure on the ground covered in a white sheet – or at least what used to be a white sheet.

Now it was a blood red.

"What was all that about?" he asked, a dozen policemen snapped to attention fearfully.

"Dead man, sir," one of them replied, "He was found by the neighbours at around dawn. The man… eh… was…" Words seemed to fail the young man as he stared helplessly at his comrades.

"Let me see." Saitou strode forward and lifted the sheet.

There was a long silence as everyone's attention focused on him. Then he grunted and dropped the sheet.

"Sir?"

"Makes me wonder how you even identified it as human."

"Eh… they found a… foot, sir."

Saitou grunted again and frowned into the distance. "Ok," he murmured, "get the body out of sight then go do something useful."

"Yes sir!" The policemen set about their work with a new energy.

Turning around, Saitou strode off slowly, chewing on his cigarette meditatively. He hadn't seen a body in that shape in a very long time. In fact, he had never seen a body look like that before in his entire life. It made him wonder. As far as he knew, the only people within the territory with sufficient skill to carry out such a brutal murder were Himura Battousai and himself.

That wasn't much help. He knew he didn't do it, and he was almost absolutely certain Battousai hadn't done it. The… murder was too messy, and Battousai was too busy playing daddy to be going around killing people.

Nevertheless, this merited a talk with the man. The slashing had been unique, and perhaps he could shed some light onto it.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

The happy sounds of the Kamiya dojo reached his ears even before he could see the building itself. This happy sounds, or "oro-sounds" as he had taken to calling it comprised mainly of oros by a certain ex-hitokiri, the sound of someone being whacked, the sound of someone whacking someone, screams, yells, curses, and the latest addition, crying.

Pausing at the door to relight a cigarette, he stood and brooded for a while before cautiously pushing the door open with his sheathed sword. His caution paid off when he narrowly escaped being hit in the head by a flying chair.

"Kami-sama!" someone yelped, "I'm so sorry… oh, it's you." He looked up from the smashed furniture and eyed the woman storming towards him. Time had matured up the frame, but the same childish flame still burned in her blue eyes.

"Good afternoon, Himura-donou," he greeted, in a deliberate parody of her husband's manners, "May I have the great, great honour of meeting the legendary Battousai himself?" He smirked and added, "In case you do not know who I refer to, it is the one who does all the housework and say 'oro' to every single damned question posed to him."

"Battousai doesn't live here," she shot back, glaring at him, "But Kenshin Himura does, and you may speak to him."

"Why, I am so honoured," he sneered back, brushing past her and heading towards the sounds of "oro" and "Kaoru-donou, who is it?".

Rounding the dojo, he came upon the now painfully familiar sight of his nemesis squatting knee deep in water and laundry, a baby riding in a carrier behind him.

"Oh, it's you," was the welcome.

"Yes, you are very welcomed," Saitou replied mockingly and was somewhat pleased to see a flicker of amber amongst the amethyst, but that vanished a little too quickly.

"What is it, Saitou?" Kenshin finally relented, standing up and wiping his hands on his hakama.

"I feel so welcomed," Saitou murmured, "I have come here for your expert opinion on murdering people, Battousai." Again there was the flash of amber which lasted longer this time. Saitou was amused; he could spend the whole day baiting him, but he needed information more than he needed violence now.

"I do not see why you should be so interested in my opinion when you obviously have a better and more up to date opinion on murder," Himura shot back.

Blowing out a breath full of smoke, Saitou decided to relent. "I did not come here to fight with you, Battousai," he said, toning his voice down, "There has been a very brutal murder in the outskirts of Tokyo, and when I say brutal, I mean brutal, that coming from a man who lived through the Revolution. It is the only one so far, but it may not remain so for long." He could have continued, but he stopped, knowing that his point was made. Battousai would not turn him down.

"We can talk in the house," Kenshin said, passing the baby to his wife who was already looking very worried, "Kaoru, could you please get some tea for us?"

"Ok." Her worried gaze passed between the two men then she hurried off.

Saitou followed Kenshin as he led them into the living room, stepping derisively around the unconscious boy on the floor of the dojo.

"Is your wife training her pupil or trying to end his life?"

"I have asked myself that question often enough."

That seemed to dispel a little of the tension and they settled down on the floor in a slightly more cordial mood.

"What is it then?" Kenshin questioned.

"There was a body found in the outskirts," Saitou began, "a farmer, apparently, and to make a long story short, I couldn't tell it was human when I first saw it."

Kenshin raised his eyebrow at that.

"It was nothing more than a pile of flesh, Battousai, and when I say flesh, I mean flesh. Admittedly, it was a rather large pile of flesh. There was no bone, no… inerts… only meat. The only object that could be identified as human was a foot that the villagers had found. It was not with the… remains, but a way off, almost half-way across the village."

His nemesis's face had not changed, but there was now a slight bluish tinge to it. "Is it possible the… remains aren't human?"

"Our policemen found a tattoo, which the family of the missing farmer identified as belonging to him." That seemed to end any doubts.

"I don't know how I am supposed to help you with this," Kenshin said, looking highly disturbed.

Saitou leaned forward slightly. "Battousai, I looked at the remains, and I am convinced that it was the work of one person alone. Yet, what technique does something like this to the victim? My coroner says the flesh was probably hacked off when the person attacked the victim in the dark, but the chunks were enormous. I do not think it was accidental. It is almost like…" He stopped abruptly and smoked quietly, waiting for Battousai to finish his thoughts.

"It is almost like," Kenshin murmured, taking up the challenge, "the murderer took what he needed and left what he didn't need behind."

"Yes."

Kenshin's mind reeled. "You… think he was… eaten?"

"Possibly, but if that was the case, why was the majority of flesh left behind?"

"Perhaps…" Kenshin stared miserably into the distance.

For a brief instance, Saitou felt an uncharacteristic jolt of sympathy for the man. This was a man did not want his peaceful, happy life to be interrupted by this grisly murder, a sentiment Saitou had once shared with him when he had first gotten married to his lovely Tokio. "Let us talk about the technique," he said, changing the subject immediately, "do you know a technique that takes the flesh off the bones in just one slash?"

"No…" Kenshin stared at the floor, "Usually techniques involve aiming for major organs, not for taking off chunks like that. Yet… by the amount of flesh you say was left behind, it does not sound like random hacking."

"Yes."

There was a call from outside the door and they both fell silent as Kaoru entered with tea and cake. Kenshin gulped. Suddenly food didn't seem like such a good idea after all.

They were silent as she arranged the tea in front of them, and that seemed to disturb her for she kept glancing at Kenshin, trying to read his face. He kept it as impassive as possible. When she left, she was even more worried than when Saitou had appeared.

The moment the door was closed, Kenshin looked Saitou in the eye. "What do you intend to do about this one?"

"Find the murderer and kill him."

"That's not what I asked."

"I know, but other than that, I have no clue as to who the murderer is."

"It is probably someone from a different city."

"That sure narrows it down a lot, Battousai."

"I…" Kenshin clenched and unclenched his fist experimentally. "I have not lost all my skills, Saitou, and should you need my help… you can ask me."

Saitou smirked, but for once, his smirk seemed less condescending. "If it should come to that."

Without a word, they ended the meeting, and Saitou left as quietly as he came. The trip had assured nothing other than assistance, should it be required. That wasn't much. There was still work to be done, people to be chased, evidence to be collected.

And that was when a flustered policeman ran up to him and informed him of a second body.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

This time, Battousai had come along with him. The offer had surprised him, but he was somewhat glad that his nemesis's desire to protect his country had not vanished completely with the growth of his family. Of course, his wife had made a big fuss about it, but that had ended rather rapidly with a kiss and a charming smile.

Thus, the two of them stood a distance from the white sheet, staring stoically at the rapidly spreading red stain.

"That was awful."

"Less flesh left behind than in the previous one, though not significantly."

"Same slash marks?"

"Exactly."

The both of them stood still, Saitou smoking and Kenshin thinking hard.

"Were there any… parts that could be identified as human?" he asked.

With a slight sigh, Saitou lifted up the sheet with his foot and gestured to one piece. "It's all flesh but you can tell it's human."

Kenshin nodded weakly. It looked like all the flesh in the front torso of a man had been removed in one slice… and the nipples were still visible.

"So…" The words died down on his lips.

"There are no new clues here," Saitou murmured, "Other than the fact that it seems to have been done before our first corpse. It stinks more."

Kenshin could not agree further. "Let's get out of here, Saitou," he said, turning his back on the gory scene, "I can't think with that in front of me."

"Neither can I."

The confession surprised him, and the surprise filled him with guilt. He had always thought of Saitou as a cold man, and not one to reveal weakness like this. Yet, this was like nothing they had ever seen before in their entire lives… and Saitou was not an emotionless man, he knew that.

Hoping to cover his surprise, he rubbed his nose. "Which way are you going?"

"Police headquarters."

"I've better head for the dojo," Kenshin went on, "or Kaoru would get worried."

"She already is."

"I know."

There was silence as they continued down the mud road that led to civilisation.

"Saitou, why do you think these murders were carried out in the first place?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Care to speculate?"

"You do the honours."

Kenshin sighed. "I have a few ideas," he confessed, "Such as this could be religious killings. Maybe they needed the bodies for some sort of ritual… or the bodies were killed in some sort of ritual."

"That is a good one," Saitou agreed, smoking rapidly, "I have another theory, though it is not one that I agree with just yet."

"What is it?"

There was a long silence again as Saitou puffed maniacally on his cigarette. Finally, with a sigh, he threw the butt away and replied, "The villagers told my men that there have been a lot of strange things happening in the rural areas lately. At night, bizarre sounds could he heard, sounds that they have never heard before. People who venture out into the night vanish. The livestock would suddenly act up, some even killing themselves by crashing into the ground hard enough to break their spines." Another cigarette was lit up. "They claim that some kind of… evil has arrived, and that is it drawing other kinds of… evil to it."

"Evil?" Kenshin paused and stared at Saitou. "When they say that, do they mean…?"

"Supernatural evil, yes." Saitou exhaled. "Which is one reason why I do not accept this theory. Yet, there may be some truth in what they say. People have gone missing in the night this past two weeks, more than in the whole of last month by almost twofold. There have been many cases of livestock committing suicide. But, perhaps there is a less… superstitious explanation for that."

Kenshin nodded slowly. "Yes. I think that could be worth looking into."

Again there was a brief silence then Saitou sighed and relit another cigarette. "Go back to your wife, Battousai. I do not think that there is nothing more that can be done. Too few clues have been left behind."

"It will not end like this. I do not think these will be the only killings."

"Neither do I, but for now, there is nothing more that can be done, not with the sword that is. I am going back to my beloved spy network."

Kenshin's lips quirked. The normalcy of the statement seemed to throw the murders back into perspective, and bring them down to earth again. "I see. Then I shall do as you say and return to my wife."

"Good, keep out of the way. In terms of skills, you are high on my list of suspects."

Kenshin shot the Wolf of Mibu an indignant look. "I take that was a joke."

"Probably." The smirk vanished. "But if you do hear of any… skilled individuals entering or leaving the area, you've better inform me – for the sake of everybody in Tokyo."

"Will do." At the crossroads, they parted without anymore words. Cordial words would have seemed empty after the years of enmity – not that it would have mattered. Sometimes, the sword speaks more than words, and sometimes… it is the eyes that tell the whole story.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

That night, Kenshin had gathered his family and his closest friends to him and had quietly related to them the events that had happened that day. Kaoru, Yahiko and Tsubame had sat silently opposite him as he explained what he had seen and warned them to be extra careful. They had paled and Tsubame had started to cry, but other than that, they had taken the news better than he had hoped. That night, it was taken that Tsubame would stay the night and return home the next day.

He should have expected it, he realised, but when feeling his wife turn in her bed for the hundredth time that night, he sighed and raised himself on his elbow to look at her.

Kaoru gave him a weak smile. "Am I disturbing you?" she questioned abashedly.

"A little," he admitted, "do you wish to talk about it?"

"I just…" again she attempted to smile. "I just can't get rid of the irresistible urge to go check the locks on all the windows and doors again…"

"You checked it five times before going to bed."

"I know," she replied, giving a short bout of laughter, "that's why I'm not getting up to do it again. I've just got the creeps… and even if I knew that all the locks are safely in place, and that I've got the strongest swordsman in the whole of Japan sleeping beside me… I just don't feel safe."

Without another word, he reached out and hugged her tightly. "I am a fading swordsman, Kaoru," he murmured in her ear, "but to keep you, Kenji, Yahiko, Tsubame… and all our friends safe, I will be the strongest, even if I have to go through hellfire to be so."

Smiling, Kaoru snuggled deeper into his arms and sighed contentedly. Then suddenly, she was out of his arms and on her feet, staring at her door worriedly.

"What is it?" Kenshin asked, startled to find himself grasping at cold emptiness.

"Tsubame," Kaoru said worriedly, "She must be terrified! I totally forgot how afraid she would be sleeping on her own… I've better go check on her… and Yahiko, just in case." Before Kenshin could protest, she was hurrying for the door, stopping just for a while to check the baby then hurrying out of the door. Her fears appeared well-founded when the sounds of sniffling and sobbing floated up to him a few minutes later.

Chuckling to himself, Kenshin settled back down on the futon and stared at the ceiling. Saitou had come to him for the technique used, but what disturbed Kenshin was the motive behind the killing. It was just so… gruesome… and senseless. What was the point in all this? Was it just to instigate fear? If so, then why were the remains left in the rural, deserted areas of Japan and not the great city squares where everyone would see it?

With a soft sigh, Kenshin lifted himself off the futon and stretched. He needed some fresh air; the room was locked in so tight it was starting to become claustrophobic. Pausing to adjust his yukata, he stared at the window in their room and wondered Kaoru's reaction should he open the window. Then with a shrug, he unlocked it and pushed it open. He could lock it again the moment he felt her ki approaching the room.

A hot, wet breeze buffed in from the window and hit his face. It was slightly uncomfortable, but better than the air in the room. He wondered briefly if it had rained that day – he hadn't noticed, but that didn't mean anything. Recently, he had started to think about a lot of things, like the fact that he was slowly by steadily losing his skills. It worried him that he would be unable to stand out for his family should they get into trouble – which was often, given their personalities.

Sighing again, he gazed down of the balcony into the darkness – and gave a start. Shocked into immobility, he stared at the figure below him. It was dark, very dark, but he could still make out the outline of a person wondering past the outer rim of the dojo. It was an outline he was familiar with.

Seta Soujirou.

"W…" His limbs suddenly seemed free of their restraint, and he leapt from the window and bounced over the dojo wall, wincing at the unaccustomed strain on his muscles. His head darting left and right, he looked up and down the street, but there was no one there. The figure was gone.

Confused, Kenshin stood in the dark, straining to locate ki, but felt nothing. He had been certain that he had seen Seta Soujirou walking past the dojo outer wall. It was inconceivable that he would have seen wrongly… or was it? It had been dark, and he had been sleepy and deep in thought. Perhaps, it had been a figment of his imagination.

Still puzzled, Kenshin proceeded to leap over the wall of the dojo again. There was no use investigating further in the dead of night – there was no one on the streets, no ki that he could sense. Whoever it had been that had walked past… if anyone had walked past, was long gone. It was time to return before Kaoru worried. He would inform Saitou the next day. Perhaps, the man would have some new information that could throw things into perspective.

Everything would become clear tomorrow – he was sure of it.