Disclaimer: I don't own Saitou or any of the other characters of Rurouni Kenshin. I hope that you like this chapter as it took me quite a long time to write. Haha School kept on getting in the way. Also I'm sorry that I haven't been writing very much on my other stories. I'll be slowly but surely be continuing them. I haven't forgotten them don't worry. Also Zephon and any other characters that don't appear in the Rurouni Kenshin plot are mine (except for Tokio, because she's mentioned by Saitou at one point.) Well without further adieu here is my chapter.

Chapter 2: Just One of Those Days

A faint systematic thrumming could be heard as Masurao thought long and hard about what he was about to do. It was an unconscious habit of his to tap his fingertips on the top of his desk while thinking but he only did it when he was deep in thought. This was one of those time for he had recently received some valuable information that if proved true could be quite catastrophic to the peace of Japan. He had to tread lightly and think carefully about whom to send over to Tokyo to investigate. Oh how he wished sometimes that life was as simple for warriors like they were back in the Bakumatsu, he could have used force back then and gotten away with it. Now it was almost impossible to do so and what only made it worse was the fact that the Meiji government was constantly trying to hide their past mistakes. This little problem he was currently facing just happened to be one of those 'little' mistakes. It involved the Battousai.

Apparently the Battousai had recently resurfaced and was wreaking havoc all over Tokyo. Not only that but rumor was going around that he was using the name Kamiya Kasshin-ryu as his fighting style. If memory served correctly that fighting style was created to preserve and protect lives not wreak havoc and maybe even kill innocent people; plus not to mention didn't the Battousai use Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu as his fighting style?

'Who can I trust to send on this mission?' Masurao thought to himself as he dug the base of his palm into his forehead, forcefully trying to massage away his oncoming headache. He had been up all night mulling it over but couldn't think of a single person. He was short of just forgetting it and going himself, but the only problem with that is he didn't really know what the Battousai looked like. If only he knew somebody who did.

"Chief you should get some sleep you look horrible."

Masurao growled at the offending voice.

"Well anyway I brought you some tea; you know to keep you awake. You look like you're about ready to drop dead."

"Zephon," Masurao grumbled trying to find something on his desk to throw at the man when he failed to find something he opted to glaring at him through half-lidded eyes, "you're just as bad as Kouji."

Zephon couldn't help but laugh at that statement, "Well since you sent him to Hokkaido somebody had to take his place." Zephon continued to laughed quietly as he set a small tray down the desk. Masurao looked at the tray as though it were offending him but at the sight of it his stomach began gurgling only adding to his ire. Zephon smiled when he heard Masurao's stomach try and tell its master it was hungry.

"Zephon while your at it could you run an errand for me and get some breakfast? I'll be in the office all day and haven't had anything to eat." Masurao grumbled.

"Sure, anything in particular?" Zephon asked as he made his way for the door.

'Soba, plain soba will do just fine' was the answer.

Zephon could hear Masurao grumbling about Saitou and soba as he left on his little errand. It made him wonder just how the Chief knew Saitou.

As soon as Zephon left on his little errand Masurao coved his face with his huge left hand, only his left eye was showing. He was motionless, as still as a statue. Since he had been up all night and well into the day he had an overbearing headache and knew that the only way he could alleviate the pain was by going to sleep but he knew that this case was too important. So when he found himself nodding off to sleep he stood up on his long legs and began to walk around; so with that he stood up, beginning to brood heavily about the current situation. With each thought his headache pounded worse it felt like his brain was going to explode if he thought of this infernal case anymore. As an easy remedie he decided to think back to when he first met Zephon. That young man had just barely made it into the police force by the skin of his teeth. He had grown in confidence and even skill. After that duel they had, Masurao was insistent that the young man show him what he was capable with the kunai as well as the tantou. He remembered when he first met him he had the fiery determination that even now was going strong. He certainly had gone through a lot especially after seeing his father be killed right before his eyes, by the Battousai no doubt.

It took the weary policeman about two full minutes before he realized he had stumbled across the answer to his dire question.

Zephon came back with Masurao's order only to find the man hitting himself in the head with his hand.

"How could I have been so stupid?"

Zephon was at a loss, he took his superior's behavior as a result of lack of sleep, but then the Chief was always weird; trying to act tough when at heart he was more than likely a big softy. Watching Masurao with a cautious eye, Zephon watched as his superior continued to only make his headache worse.

"What, pray tell, are you doing Boss?" Zephon questioned credulously.

Upon hearing Zephon's voice Masurao immediately stopped hitting himself. Almost as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jaw Masurao quickly and quietly slipped back into his chair and tried to act like nothing had happened.

"Finally I'm starved."

It took all the self-control he could muster not to laugh at his superior but he couldn't completely keep the mirth out of his eyes.

"Not a word." Masurao hissed as he slurped the noodles up ravenously.

"Sir I suggest that soon after you at least take a nap, I wouldn't want anything bad happening to you." Zephon suggested, slightly surprised at how ferociously his boss was attacking his strange choice of breakfast.

"I thank you for your concern boy and please stop staring at me that way, I just happened to remember something and you happened to come in the room right after I remembered." Masurao hissed trying to sound angry when in fact he was making himself look all the more ridiculous than ever.

"Oh is that what happened because for a second it looked like you were trying to bludgeon yourself into oblivion so that you didn't have to worry about your current case." Zephon stated rather bemused as he plopped himself in one of the chairs in front of Masurao's desk. With the way Masurao was eating maybe Zephon should have bought more than one bowl full.

"Oh, shove off Zephon." Masurao growled as he finished the rest of his plain soba and after a few minutes of silence spoke again, "speaking of which I don't have to worry about that case anymore because I know who I can send."

"Hmm, Who?" Zephon inquired lazily. Being with this man in front of him for a whole year made Zephon see a side of his boss that most people normally don't see; at first he was nervous around the man but after a few months that soon changed and strangely enough they seemed to enjoy each other's company enough that they could tease each other back and forth without feeling awkward and what Zephon was about to hear would prove to be at the top.

"I figured I'd just send you."

"Whaa…" Zephon protested his jaw dropping wide open. His back straightened and he stood up quickly from shock.

"What, I trust you." With that Masurao dropped the subject and finished eating his plain soba.

"How'd I get myself roped into this?" Zephon grumbled to himself as he clambered out of the carriage pulling his knapsack out of the infernal contraption right behind him. He had been riding, by carriage, all the way to Tokyo for the last few hours. It had felt so long he had lost count of just how long it had really taken.

"Only Chief would find a perfect way to seek his revenge and now I have to stay in Tokyo until I found out what is truly going on about Battousai." Zephon found himself growling to no one in particular as he slung his knapsack over his shoulder and began walking.

He was wallowing in his self-misery when he was almost run over by a black-haired girl probably only a few years younger than him.

"I've found you Battousai!" She yelled.

Zephon too shocked for words only had enough time to pull out a bokken Masurao had practically forced him to bring. This girl was nuts, what gave her the right to go challenging people left and right like they were the Battousai.

"Little girl, I am not the Battousai!" Zephon growled emphasizing every single word but it didn't seem to faze the girl as she continued to force poor Zephon back into a corner.

"You have nowhere to run, you devil."

"Girl, are you stupid, do you run around always doing this?" Zephon grunted angrily as he held off the girl's bokken. Man this girl was pretty strong for being a woman; it made him wonder if she had some formal training in martial arts. It was very apparent that she could use a sword that much was for sure; strong plus annoying. Zephon found that with ever word she yelled or with every swing of her bokken he was getting more and more annoyed. He was a very lenient man, and though known by few, it could be said that he was very patient. Not today though, it kind of didn't work that way when he was already in a bad mood. He was tired of this girl's outrageous yelling.

"Stupid girl, don't you listen? I'm not the Battousai." And with that Zephon found the strength to knock her bokken out of her hands and there upon he slid his own back into his belt.

Zephon could see that the girl was fuming and stopped for a short while to see if steam would come out her ears, she looked that mad. She frowned while picking up her bokken and once again got into a battle-ready stance. Zephon couldn't blame her for her bravery but rolled his eyes at her stupidity. In a flash Zephon closed the gap between them caught the girl's bokken by the blade; that way she wouldn't be able to swing it anymore.

"Let go stupid." The girl growled.

Zephon didn't do as she rudely requested but fiercely stared into her cobalt eyes with his hazel ones. He figured this was the best way to get things straight. They did say that the eyes were the window to the soul so if she looked into his while he berated her maybe she'd finally get the picture. The girl could only gasp and lower her gaze, apparently he didn't even have to say anything more.

"I'm so sorry sir, I didn't mean to…" the girl breathed quickly, "I can tell by your eyes that you aren't the Battousai. I'm so sorry I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am."

Zephon let go of her bokken and stepped away with only a hint of a smile. She finally believed him and that was all that counts.

"What made you think I was the Battousai, miss?" Zephon asked in a soft tone this time.

"I don't know, I just assumed upon seeing that sword you were lugging around." She explained before asking "Don't you even know that there was a sword ban put in place not but a few years ago?"

"I do, but I have a special permit to carry one so it's ok." Zephon explained.

"Oh."

"So what are you running around the streets of Tokyo yelling Battousai for?" Zephon inquired, this might be a big lead into his case. The faster he finished the sooner he'd be able to go back to Kyoto.

"Oh pardon my rudeness I'm Kaoru." The girl said rather timidly.

"And mine is Zephon nice to meet you."

"There has been a man running around claiming to be the Battousai but he says that he uses the Kamiya Kasshin style. That's my style." Kaoru growled with anger.

"Ah now I see, so you go around challenging any man with a sword in the hopes that he's the Battousai." Zephon deduced.

Kaoru blushed slightly and nodded before continuing. "Just not long ago I met the strangest man. He had red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, but the weird thing about him was that he carried something called a reversed blade sword. Isn't that the weirdest thing you've ever heard?"

Zephon couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't believe that the Battousai was in Tokyo, this girl had just met the man, and maybe he had been true to his actions eleven years ago. Zephon remembered well when the Battousai had stuck his blood-soaked and broken katana into the ground as a sign of his new lifestyle. Zephon left Kaoru's question unanswered and began walking away lost in thought.

"Hey, where you going?" Kaoru questioned feeling rather put out.

"Sorry Miss Kaoru but I have business to attend to, it was nice meeting you." With that Zephon went off to find an inn to stay the night.

Zephon owlishly blinked his eyes before rubbing them; it was bright outside and made him wonder just how long he had been asleep. Light peeked out of the inn's barred window right into Zephon's face.

"Whaa happened I thought I heard a noise outside my room window last night." Zephon spoke out loud to himself as his speech was slurred from sleepiness. Though he wasn't fully awake he found himself in his clothes from last night and noticed he wasn't in his futon; in fact he hadn't even prepared his futon for the night it was still neatly stacked in the corner; looks like he had fallen asleep soon after he had finished his letter. He had stayed up rather late last night writing a letter to Masurao about his unexpected findings. According to the girl, Kaoru, there was an imposter Battousai running around using her dojo's fighting style as the official style the Battousai uses. Soon after he had written the letter he began to fall asleep and apparently had fallen backwards in a rather unceremonious fashion, Zephon realized when he tried to get up. Oh how he ached all over. All those aches and pains were soon forgotten though when he heard many whispers coming from all around the inn, especially just right outside his window.

"….did you hear? The Battousai struck again and injured a young girl…."

'Kaoru-san,' Zephon thought with guilt, 'I shouldn't have left her alone.' He assumed it was her anyway since she was the one looking for the imposter.

"….I also heard a red-haired man saved her."

Relief flooded through Zephon's body; if the real Battousai was with her then she had nothing to fear. So with that thought Zephon got up, changed and got ready for the day, including strapping his tantou and bokken to his belt-he opted to leave his sword behind. He had only stepped out of the inn when he felt as though someone's eyes were watching his every move, boring into his head. He suddenly turned just in time to see a shadow slowly disappear.

'What was that?' Zephon questioned to himself shivering slightly at the thought of a man with such a killer's aura watching his every move, it was rather unnerving.

Zephon shivered once more before heading off to mail his letter and since he had slept most of the morning away decided he would have lunch at the Akabeko's. Once he made it to the Akabeko he was ushered in and sat down, the one thing he had always loved about Tokyo was the Akabeko and their marvelous service. Because Zephon was so hungry-for being a rather skinny fellow he sure could pack the food away-he had ordered as much food as he could afford and was in the middle of drinking his tea when he heard Kaoru's excited voice practically yell.

'Well it seems as if she's ok.' Zephon thought with a wince.

"Oh that's great it was a healthy baby boy?!"

Oh, yes I think the family's last name was Furijata, man that baby was such a feisty fella." A deep but elderly voice answered back. Zephon rolled his eyes; the second person must be a doctor. He shouldn't even be listening in on their conversation, it's not like he knew this Furijata family anyway. He was about to ignore the two when he heard a voice he could never forget.

"That's great that it is."

The voice was soft yet had a commanding air behind it, almost too faint to catch. Only somebody who had been there during the Bakumatsu would remember that cold commanding edge of the Battousai. The man was finally here, this was the first time in eleven years. Zephon cautious looked back at the trio while still sipping his tea.

'I wonder how much the man has changed.'

Zephon nearly spit out his tea when he saw the expression on the Battousai's face. It wasn't one of coldness but full of smiles and maybe even a little naivety; if you could call it that. The man had been true to his promise for he had the look of a man who had gone through many trials, like his heart had slowly been unthawed and was replaced with kindness and the will to protect. The strangest thing of all was his eyes weren't amber they were…amethyst?

'That's sure something new.' Zephon thought to himself as he continued to stare at the Battousai. That man in return caught his gaze and slightly widened as if he recognized Zephon.

"Kenshin what is it?" Kaoru questioned as she followed his line of sight to where Zephon was sitting. Zephon not wanting to be discovered by the girl quickly turned around and focused on his food.

"This wanderer just thought he recognized somebody that's all it wasn't anything very important, that it wasn't."

Zephon sighed with relief, he had found what he was looking for by accident and had almost blown his cover. It would have been bad had the Battousai recognized him and it would have been a complete mess had Kaoru met up with him again by the sounds of it she was a rather temperamental girl, one minute laughing and joking or blushing and then the next she was throttling the Battousai.

Zephon smiled at the sounds coming from behind him, who would have thought that the Battousai would turn out to be such a kindhearted man, so lax in his attitude that he would actually allow Kaoru to touch him let alone throttle him to death. One thing was for sure she'd never be able to do that during the Bakumatsu. There was much cause to wonder if the Battousai hadn't really just flipped his lid or fallen off a mountain and received permanent brain damage or something because this sure wasn't the same man he had seen eleven years ago, and that very well was a good thing.

"Would you like anything more to eat or drink sir?" The waitress asked when she noticed he had finished everything before him. Zephon just smiled, pulled some money out of his pocket and moved to leave when some shady characters came into the Akabeko. The group, about ten people in all, sat down and started making a ruckus about sake, and wanting some entertainment. Some pounded the table while others looked around for people to bully. One man went so far as to roughly grab and catch hold of the waitress that had been talking to Zephon. All eyes were on the man and waitress as she screamed bloody murder and frantically tried to get away.

"Come here little missus, I'm not going to hurt you too badly."

The man had a wild look in his eyes that promised not only pain but defilement, and Zephon just couldn't let that happen.

Zephon could feel himself getting angrier by the minute, he shot a quick glance at the Battousai and found that the man too felt the same way, but since he was farther away he wouldn't be able to get there in time to help the poor waitress. The look of pure terror tore into Zephon's heart and he couldn't bear it any longer. In one fluid movement he had drawn his bokken, smacked the man's arm away from the woman and had even pushed the vile man outside into the street. Zephon followed soon after, his ki flaring as he was on high alert. As quickly as the group had entered the restaurant then all shuffled out just as quickly, angry that a man had dared to spoil their fun. They were going to make sure that this man answered for what he had just done.

Inside Kaoru ran to the sobbing waitress's side and helped her to her feet.

"Miss, are you alright?" Kaoru asked quietly while trying to calm the still hysterical woman. Soon after Gensai came to check the woman over and when he deduced that she hadn't been injured in anyway he turned his attention to the young man fighting among at least five of the ten men. He saw that two of the gangster-like men were sitting out watching the fight while there were three other men knocked out cold and on the floor.

'That man sure must be good, to have knocked three out.' Gensai thought with interest. He then saw a red blur run past him and soon Kenshin had entered into the fray.

Zephon found himself having a hard time dodging all the punches that came his way. He had managed to knock out one man with a bokken to the head and then knocked out the other two by punching them in the face but because the ruffians were coming at him from all sides he couldn't dodge everything and was now sporting a split lip, black eye and probably a broken rib. He noticed that the man he had attacked first was standing away from the fight as well as another man. He didn't know what they were doing but he didn't care at the moment as he was trying to make sure he came out of this alive. He was so focused on dodging the incoming punches that he failed to notice that the man was now charging in with a knife. He felt the knife bite into his right shoulder and then be pulled out again. The same man tried to do it a second time but Zephon know had his attention turned to the man. He swung his bokken at the man's hand and made him drop the weapon. The man growled in pain before trying to lash out with his fists.

That man didn't even get the chance; he fell forward and was unconscious even before he hit the ground. Standing behind the man was a small lithe man with red hair. Zephon could only smile at the irony; he was being saved by the Battousai. The other men stopped momentarily when they saw the man go down.

"You shouldn't gang up on people like that, that you shouldn't." Kenshin stated seriously.

"So what you idiot, this isn't your fight." One man growled.

Zephon smirked while holding his wounded shoulder with his left hand-his bokken was in his right hand-this man just doesn't know who he's talking to. This will be a good chance to see the Battousai in action, to see if he'll stay in wanderer mode or go into monster mode and kick some butt as well as maybe draw a little blood.

TWEET!

Unfortunately Zephon wouldn't get the chance as he heard the whistle of a policeman.

"Alright break it up, break it up." The policeman yelled. "You are all under arrest for obstructing the peace."

Zephon had his first taste of just how a Tokyo policeman acted like. He and the policeman around him had already taken care of the criminals but Zephon couldn't believe what he was hearing, he was going to jail too?

"Woah, what? Wait, that not right, these men had started it, I was just defending a woman that's all."

The policeman stared at the bloody and bruised Zephon as if he were a stain on his shoe.

"I don't care what you say, you're coming with me."

"This one doesn't think that is proper, this man is stating the truth, that he is." Kenshin stated adamantly, firmly backing up Zephon. Zephon nodded his thanks to Kenshin and smiled slightly when the policeman winced at Kenshin's hard glare.

"I don't care if it's the truth or not, both he and you are coming with me." The policeman stated rather shakily.

"I'm not going." Zephon growled.

"You dare defy a policeman?"

Zephon just wanted to tear that man apart, but at the same time he just had to kick himself at his own stupidity. Of course this man wouldn't know that he too was a policeman because he hadn't gone to the Tokyo precinct to tell them he was temporarily in Tokyo.

"I'm not going." Zephon stated again.

"You slimy dog." The policeman roared charging at Zephon. Kenshin was far enough away that he couldn't react in time. Zephon flew a good foot after being punched in the face. Everybody gasped in horror, a policeman had just injured a man that was only trying to help protect a woman. A large group had gathered to watch the man fight against the big group of men and so it was hard for Gensai and Kaoru to break through; when they did though they could only gasp in horror when they too saw Zephon go down and hit his head rather hard against the ground. Kenshin looked as if he were about to pounce on the policeman for the injustice he had just committed. He would have too had a strong but high voice break through the crowd.

"Stop this instant!"

The voice had come from a woman carrying a two year old boy in her arms. All attention was turned to the rather short woman with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes, the color of honey, hardened to amber. Her presence was powerful felt by everybody; Kenshin was quite surprised that this woman knew how to project her ki in such a manner. The policeman too felt her angry ki and immediately froze. He had more reason to fear because he was quite familiar with that voice; it was the voice of Fujita Tokio the wife of the infamous Fujita Gorou-his boss.

"How dare you do such a thing to this man?!" Tokio growled while repositioning her son in her arms. He too picked up on his mother's anger and began imitating her with angry gestures, but in doing this he was squirming around a little too much and thus made it hard to keep a hold of him.

"He was obstructing justice." The policeman squeaked in fright. If it had been any other time Kenshin probably would have smiled at the actions of the woman chewing out the police officer. She had melted that policeman's daring and power craving heart into nothing more than a pile of gooey mush. Kenshin wasn't surprised when the poor man began to back away a little bit.

"You fool; he was protecting a woman's honor. Honestly why does my husband hire such stupid people." Tokio grumbled the second part as if she were all by herself. "Don't just stand there go find a doctor."

The policeman gladly zipped out of there, but it wasn't to find a doctor, he knew that once his boss found out about what had happened he would be in trouble. No it was better to quit being a policeman all together than face the wrath of what he thought was a deranged wolf.

Tokio just smirked; she knew that man was never coming back. Kenshin when he saw that smirk felt that it seemed oddly familiar. In a way it reminded him of that wolf of a captain Saitou Hajime of the Shinsengumi.

Having felt her satisfaction Tokio quickly made her way to the unconscious man, she carefully set down her boy and came in for a better look. The poor man had taken quite the beating with a black eye, split lip, stabbed shoulder and probably some other injuries that were hidden. His new wound didn't look any prettier. Tokio looked the man over from head to toe and notice a faint hint of red under Zephon's head where he had smacked his head against the ground. Everybody was still in shock from how she had treated the police officer and nobody moved to help her until she heard a gentle voice beside her.

"Woah there little boy I don't think you want to go that way."

She looked up and found that her little boy had wandered off and the red-haired man was bringing him back to her. She smiled when she saw her son's little fists tightly holding onto the man's pointer fingers.

"Tsutomu honey, please stay close to mama." Tokio cooed lovingly.

"Yes mama."

"Ma'am can I be of help?" Kenshin asked his face full of concern.

"Can you go and find a doctor?"

"There's no need, that there isn't." Kenshin stated before turning to Kaoru and Gensai. "Gensai-san can you come take a look at this poor man?"

Gensai rushed over all the while berating himself at being caught up in the moment. Kaoru silently followed and looked at the man with worry shining in her eyes. She was on the verge of tears, how could that policeman have been so cruel.

"Kenshin do you think he'll be alright?" Kaoru asked as she watched Gensai inspect Zephon's wounds.

"This one thinks he shall be alright, you needn't worry, Kaoru-dono, that you needn't." Kenshin answered softly, quietly calming Kaoru's beating heart. She nodded in trust, "You're right Kenshin; Gensai is a great doctor."

"It just looks like he's unconscious from the fall he took, there's nothing life threatening about that blow to the head he took. He'll have quite the headache when he wakes up but he should be fine."

"That's good to hear, now if you would help me carry him; my house isn't too far from here. You can treat his injuries there." Tokio stated as she looked for something flat to carry him on. She was at a loss when she couldn't find anything.

"I'll carry him on my back." Kenshin offered and with that they carefully put Zephon on his back and trudged away to Tokio's house.

Bliss, sweet bliss; nothing felt better at that moment than the sweet, dark nothingness. All pain gone, all worldly travesties absent, even time itself seemed frozen. That all changed though when color began invading the darkness and feeling pushed its way into Zephon's senses; and oh how it hurt. Once Zephon was fully awake he hardly cared where he was, he just wanted to sink back into the depths of his subconscious. His head felt like it was splitting in two and he couldn't do anything about it. The only blessing in his time of pain was the room he was in was in complete darkness. Since his senses were still clouded with pain Zephon more felt than heard the shoji slightly open. He was on high alert and as a fail-safe method decided it was in his best interest to feign sleep. IT didn't matter though as a soft, sweet voice cut through the silence; so soft it didn't trigger more pain.

"You don't have to pretend, I know you're awake. You don't have to worry you're among friends."

At hearing this Zephon sighed with relief and made to sit up but when pain coursed up and down his body he thought it better to just lie still.

"How long have I been out?" Zephon questioned quietly, keeping his eyes shut so as not to look at the light.

"Only about a day and a half."

Zephon wince at this, he still had to pay the inn for the room he wasn't using at the moment, the room with his….

Zephon suddenly bolted upright despite his pain.

"My sword, my sword is still at the inn." Zephon gasped half in pain, half in fear. He knew he should have taken his sword with him. His body hated him at the moment, his eyes opened wide as the pain blasted from head to toe leaving him gasping and rigid. A pair of gentle hands slowly pushed him back down.

"Don't worry about it, just tell me where the inn is and I will fetch your belongings."

Zephon smiled with relief, he would be eternally grateful to this woman for not only taking care of him but be willing to retrieve his things. In a shaky voice Zephon told her where he had been staying and watched as she gracefully left the room leaving it once again in darkness. Since Zephon couldn't do much he opted to try and fall asleep once more.

Today just wasn't a good day, neither had yesterday. Saitou's anger was raging and nobody wanted to be caught dead in his presence. He had been like this since yesterday when he had not only lost a policeman but he had found out from his wife that there was a wounded man in his house. He didn't know what was worse the fact that the Battousai had been in his house or that there was a complete stranger, wounded mind you, in his house alone with his wife and child; over the years Saitou had become very protective of his family, something only a wolf would do. Many people often passed this protective nature off as abrasive and harsh, but that was only in public. He put up that front only to protect his family; it was surprising how many people didn't know that he was married in fact Saitou could count all the people on both hands that truly knew. Tokio didn't mind not having very many people not knowing, in a perverse way she found it kind of funny when people accidentally found out.

When at home behind closed doors Saitou didn't put up such images because he felt like he didn't have to; Tokio already understood why he did such things and plus he really did love her and his little wolf pup, even if he didn't outwardly express it. He felt actions spoke louder than words and so when he was at home he would actually help her a little bit with cooking and housework. He wasn't a sentimental idiot but he'd be a fool if he said that he hated to spend time with his wife.

It was with this same wife that he was just a 'little' irritated with. He was angrier about the fact Battousai had been in his house then he was about the wounded man, that same man he had been watching come out of that inn, whatever its name was.

The more he thought about it though the more he remembered that she had never met the fool and so needing to find a different avenue to vent his anger he decided he find somebody to take it out on.

"Fujita-san, Fujita-san there's a big problem." A young man yelled as he tried to find his superior who wasn't in his office at the moment. He cut around the next corner and almost ran into Saitou. Saitou sucked air through his teeth and the expression on his face clearly told the policeman he wasn't happy. He hissed at the man making the man jump in fright; almost as if he were going to be bit by a poisonous snake.

"What is it?" Saitou spat, clearly in no mood to talk about anything; but to most people he was just always that way.

"I'm sorry sir I didn't mean to…" The policeman stuttered and Saitou just rolled his eyes before staring impatiently at the man. The man catching his drift stopped blathering and got straight to the point. "There was an attack from the Battousai; we have a hostage situation…"

"So?" Saitou drawled clearly not interested on something that normal policemen should have no problem taking care of. He personally didn't care about the current situation with this so-called Battousai running amuck. First of all because he wasn't assigned the case and second of all because he knew that the real Battousai didn't hold such ideals of running willy-nilly killing random people and thirdly the Battousai didn't use a martial arts that saved people his used the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu that was designed to kill people. He also didn't really have the time to care he had a family to worry about; to protect and what was this stupid policeman still standing in his way.

The greenhorn of a policeman hadn't moved one inch even though it was clear that he was shaking terribly from fright he had a message to deliver and by golly he would do it. Saitou mentally had to give him his props because most people would be running the other way when confronted by him.

"Sir that's not all, Kawaji told me to tell you your wife is at that inn as well."

Saitou, who was a man who kept his emotions under control, took out a cigarette and lit it, but the greenhorn felt the air around them darken and become heavy; he even felt it hard to breath. He quickly bowed to his superior and ran as fast as he could away from Saitou and the smothering darkness. Saitou grunted his displeasure; today just wasn't a good day. He belligerently walked back to his office and sat down to think over the matter.

'Why would my wife be at that…'

Saitou didn't have to finish his thought as it suddenly hit him. It had something to do with that injured man in his house. He grabbed his katana off its mount and briskly marched past everybody in the precinct out the door. He received many strange looks for not many knew that he was married.

Zephon was rudely awakened when Saitou pulled him out of his futon and slammed him against the wall. Zephon was bleary eyed and semi conscious was duly mortified it looked as if a creature from down under had come up from the depths just for him. He saw amber eyes staring at him with the promise to kill. In fear he feebly grabbed at Saitou's hands as he felt the air forced out of him. He would have doubled over from the pain had Saitou not had such a firm hold on his collar. It was the pain that brought him to full wakefulness.

"Where did she go, where did my wife go?"

In the darkness Zephon had a good look at Saitou silhouetted by the light. It made him seem dark and very animalistic. Saitou's eyes held their own light and flashed amber making Zephon think of the past about the Wolves of Mibu. Saitou really was the epitome of that nickname for his face turned almost lupine. Zephon gulped and struggled against the firm hold on his collar. Saitou simply smirked and shook the man a little to loosen his hold and kill his will of escape.

"Where is she?" Saitou interrogated.

Zephon, feeling an appalling feeling of worry eat away at his gut. Something bad had happened and he realized that Saitou saw him as the reason his wife was missing.

Despite his fear worry took over and Zephon managed to croak out a question.

"What happened?"

"I'm the one asking the questions, where is my wife." Zephon cringed as Saitou emphasized the last words making them ring in his ears.

"She went to the inn where I was staying to get my stuff. I think she felt it her duty so she said she'd go." Zephon blurted out feeling the hole in his gut get larger he also felt as if his heart was slowly freezing, he now knew that it had something to do with him.

Saitou snorted in disgust while throwing the wounded Zephon to the ground. He moved to leave but Zephon quickly grabbed his bokken and tantou to join him-they both had been lying on the floor next to him.

"Where are you going?" Saitou growled without turning around.

"It's my fault she's out there plus it's my job to stop this false Battousai."

"What are you talking about?" Saitou asked clearly confused.

"Masurao sent me to take care of the matter." Zephon stated. He could hear Saitou muttering under his breath before hearing him say something about 'a good job you've done.'

Saitou's comment stung because it was true but he didn't let himself get down-hearted. He wouldn't fail in his mission or the lady who took care of him.

"I'm going with you." Zephon stated once more.

Saitou only rolled his eyes at Zephon's sense of justice.

"Come here little lady, you'll hurt yourself if you use that." One of "Battousai's" lackeys's said demurely.

Tokio lashed out with one of Zephon's kunai, as fast and accurate as a mantis hunting for its prey. She was adamant to neither use the sword nor hand it over; same went for the kunai in her hand.

"I won't and you'll be sorry if you don't just leave." Tokio warned as she drew herself up into an interesting defensive posture, crouched with right side in front of her left and the kunai firmly placed in her right hand ready to throw at any moment. The thugs laughed and one of them reached out to grab Tokio only to pull away with a hiss.

"You little wench you'll pay for that."

Tokio only scoffed, she had warned them not to do that plus it was only a matter of time before her husband came. She smiled at thought. She wondered just how these stupid men would react when they found out she wasn't lying about her husband. She could almost imagine the look of promised death shining in his eyes if he found her with any trace of injury. While she thought of what could be he had to mentally kick herself in the head for putting herself in this position. She should have known that she was being followed, or more like it she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. While on her errand to retrieve Zephon's things the inn had been attacked. She was currently the only person standing between them and the place being ransacked.

The Battousai, himself, just sat back and watched with hungry eyes. Eyes that promised defilement if he ever caught a hold of his victim; in his mind Tokio was a rare jewel that just had to be his. He licked his lips and stared.

Two or three people came after her and she quickly took care of them. In her time as wife of Saitou had made sure that she knew how to defend herself and the fruits of his labor were evident when she sent the men running away with their tails between their legs.

"Sir she's a monster, she can't be beaten." Many of the thugs whined.

The Battousai huffed in irritation; this damsel shouldn't be these hard to take down. He was about to take care of everything when people he had placed outside to watch for policeman began crying out warnings or just plain asking for mercy.

Tokio smirked, that hadn't taken Saitou long at all to come to her aid, not that he really had to she had taken care of most of the blockheads. The Battousai began getting a little antsy when he heard all the commotion.

He was about to grab Tokio to use as a ticket out of here when something flew out of nowhere and struck him in the hand. Battousai growled and suspiciously looked around donning an unimpressed expression when he saw Zephon bandaged up in several places staring back at him. The Battousai couldn't help himself; he tilted his head back and laughed. This man looked as if he were a lightweight, somebody who didn't know what he was doing.

"Leave Tokio-san alone." Zephon growled, trying his hardest to look more dangerous. This only caused The Battousai to laugh harder.

"What are you going to do about it?" The Battousai spat out emphasizing the word 'you' so with that he didn't heed Zephon's warning and reached for Tokio once more. Once again something hit the Battousai's hand this time piercing it. The Battousai's eyes widened in shock as he noticed a tantou sticking out of his hand; he then looked at the young man once more realizing just how serious he was.

"What's your name boy?" He asked in amazement, for the young man had just thrown a tantou from a fairly good distance.

"Zephon, now step away from Tokio-san."

"I'm sorry but I just can't do that." The Battousai answered with a deranged grin on his face, one that quickly molded into a face of fear when he felt cold metal pressed against his throat.

"Wrong answer." A gruff voice whispered in his ear making the more heavyset man shiver in fright.

"Tokio-san please come this way. Fujita-san is going to take out the trash." Zephon stated.

Tokio nodded grabbed all his belongings and even pulled Zephon's tantou out of The Battousai's hand. Saitou smirked as he watched his wife triumphantly walk to Zephon.

"You have made the biggest mistake of your life, that woman there is my wife, now I'm afraid I can't show you any mercy." Saitou growled. Zephon on the other hand moved to stop the former Shinsengumi captain.

"Fujita-san I can't let you do that, I must take him into the precinct to finish my mission."

Saitou snorted with derision but surprisingly allowed Zephon to take the man.

"We both know that you aren't the Battousai, Himura Gohei. You are under arrest for the many murders you have committed plus the impersonation of the legendary Battousai. You are also under arrest for obstructing justice and the peace as well as making Kaoru-san's dojo suffer. Do you have anything to say?" Zephon stated without so much as a bat of an eye. He personally didn't care what Himura had to say.

Saitou none-the-less was a little impressed. This young man took charge of the situation long enough for him to sneak from behind and save his wife from any further danger. What really impressed him was his skill in throwing things. He was about more than thirty feet away and he was able to expertly throw that tantou straight at the criminal's hand. It reminded him of a member of the Shinsengumi; Meiyo Hageshii was his name if remembered correctly. He didn't give it much thought until Tokio gave him his things. Among them was the sword that Hageshii always wore at his side.

Saitou, though shocked, didn't let it show. Instead he lit a cigarette and leisurely exited the inn-most of the people were now cheering- and followed Zephon to the Tokyo Precinct. The boy had said his name was Zephon, didn't Hageshii have a son named Zephon. If this was true then maybe he wasn't quite an idiot that he had first taken the young man for. Once they had jailed Himura Gohei Saitou decided it was now or never, he cornered Zephon and bluntly asked him.

"Was Hageshii your father?"

Zephon smiled, nothing got past Saitou's keen eyes. He bowed low and graceful.

"Aye sir that would be correct."

"Good, I need men like you. I'm going to file for your transfer to this precinct."

Zephon could only blink and open and close his mouth dumbly. He loved Kyoto, he didn't want to stay here, but he wasn't about to say this. Saitou just smirked and walked away.

A week passed by and Masurao could be seen holding a letter from Zephon. He could only sigh in relief the Battousai terrorizing Tokyo had been a fraud but the real one was there. Saitou had felt it a good idea for Zephon to transfer to Tokyo's Precinct so Masurao complied. Apparently when Kaoru had been told that Zephon was alright from his wounds and that he had helped in the capture of the fraud, she immediately tried to get him to stay at her dojo probably to take in another student, but he was now going to be under Saitou's command and so Saitou thought it better for Zephon to live with his family.

Masurao could on chuckle nervously before sucking air through his teeth. He wished the young man only the best of luck because Saitou in every sense was still a wolf. He even still lived the Shinsengumi's motto Aku. Soku. Zan. Slay evil swiftly.

"Good luck meh boy, good luck." And with that Masurao put the letter down and began working on his own cases.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was fun but hard to write. I just hope I didn't get Saitou out of character he's sometimes a hard character to write.