Disclaimer:  *points at an RK logo* I disclaim this… *points at a Trigun logo* I disclaim that… *points off in random direction* And then there's that…

Warning:  Uh, more cussing? It's never much and not that bad though… And again, I don't how good this chappie is. After sitting down to write it, me and the chappie had a good hour long staring contest before I managed to get anything done… and then we had tea.

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Souken no Shibun

Nighttime Activities

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"So have you heard you guys heard about news?"

Kaoru blinked up at Tae, sliding her chopsticks from her mouth, and swallowed. "What news? Has something happened?"

Tae's brow furrowed. "With the way you guys attract trouble, I figured you'd have been involved in it… or at least known of it. No offense, Kaoru honey."

Kenshin's shoulders sagged imperceptibly as he looked up from his spot next to Kaoru, who just smiled and waved a hand dismissively. "None taken. Now, what's been going on that would make you think we would be involved?"

Seeing as it was a rather slow night for the Akabeko, Tae went ahead and took the empty seat next to Yahiko. "Well, you remember those robberies that Kenshin here helped put an end to? Well, apparently, the man caught, although a thief, wasn't the one the police were looking for after all. Or at least that's the rumor, because the burglaries have started again and that guy's still in jail." She paused dramatically. "They know it's the same one, because the signature mark of the thief was found inside the house." Tae looked on sadly. "And it seems the thief is branching out."

Kenshin lowered his chopsticks and narrowed his eyes slightly. "What do you mean, Tae-dono?"

Tae leaned back in the booth, shivering slightly. "There've been several murders… it's been said they were rather… disturbing." Tae shook her head, as if clearing it of the thoughts. A bell chimed announcing more customers and Tae smiled weakly. "Well, looks like I've gotta get back to work. You guys take care now." With that, she disappeared into the kitchen.

Yahiko, who had been strangely quiet throughout, regarded a thoughtful Kenshin. "So what do you think?"

Kenshin shook his head. It didn't seem to fit. When he had worked on that case, there hadn't been any sense of malice from the sites. In fact, now that he that he thought about it, he hadn't sensed much of anything. He had just assumed it was because the thief wasn't trained to fight. But if it were true that the thief was still at large and had taken to killing… Well, the man obviously had some ability to be able to elude both him and the police. And now Kenshin felt the wonderful weight of responsibility for those deaths settle nicely upon his shoulders. If he had only been more careful, paid a little more attention to the clues, he could have found the true thief and none of those people would be dead. The families of the dead wouldn't be mourni-

That train of thought was immediately ceased when a rather blunt object slammed into his head at high speed courtesy of Kaoru. "Kenshin no baka!" She had been silently watching him since Tae left. His shoulders had slumped more and more as the minutes had passed. She knew exactly what was going through the damn head of his and every time he sunk just a little further into the seat, she felt the inexorable urge to hit him. So she did. Nothing new there. As she set the plate down, she glared at Yahiko who had begun to snicker at the swirly-eyed rurouni. She sat back and stuffed some sushi into her mouth, waiting for the redhead to return to his senses.

Yahiko, on the other hand, took full advantage of this chance and began snatching food off the senseless rurouni's plate when Kaoru turned away. Kenshin would be too busy sulking and getting lectured to eat, so Yahiko thought he might as well be generous and help the man clean his plate. He grinned. How thoughtful of me…

Kaoru pulled her shawl from around her shoulder and, placing it next to her, turned to the recovering Kenshin. "It's hardly your fault, Kenshin. Besides, you did catch a thief after all, even if it wasn't the thief. So don't be so hard on yourself."

Kenshin rubbed the currently forming lump on his head and pouted. "But Kaoru-dono, if sessha had caught the right one, then those people would still be alive."

Kaoru frowned, not only because of Kenshin's statement, but because she finally caught Yahiko stealing his food out of the corner of her eye. At his next attempt, she snapped her chopsticks across the back of his hand. A satisfied smirk settled on her features when she was rewarded with a yelp from the young teen. "Nonsense. Who's to say that the thief you caught wouldn't have done the same thing?"

"Sessha does not think…"

The tip of a rather dangerous seeming chopstick suddenly found itself pointed right between a pair of violet eyes. "You're always blaming yourself for things you don't have control over and I won't have it. Not this time. Understood?"

Kenshin gulped and smiled nervously. "P-perfectly, Kaoru-dono."

She withdrew the slim piece of wood and waved it in the air. "Besides, knowing those idiot police, they'll probably be knocking down the door tomorrow to ask for your help again. I mean if this guy managed to get away from them before, surely he'd be able to do it again, ne?" She returned her attention to her food. "So, for now, relax." She speared a piece of meat before looking meaningfully at him. "Or else…"

Kenshin nodded slowly, careful so as not to make any sudden movements that would startle her into a violent reflex. Wisely ignoring the curses Yahiko was muttering yet again against stupid busus and hen-pecked rurounis, he reached his own chopsticks down to grab a piece of food, only find to his plate strangely empty…

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The walk home from the Akabeko was uneventful, filled with a comfortable silence as Kenshin and the other two plodded home. Kaoru and Yahiko both looked dead on their feet. Not that he could blame them.  With the warm food already settling in his stomach, even he was starting to feel tired. He'd nearly pushed the murders to the back of his mind and was quite content to ponder the moon hanging above than to mull over the thief.

Indeed, he was quite happy simply wondering over whether Kaoru glowed more brilliantly under the warm sun or the mysterious moon. It depended on what kind of mood one was in, he supposed. She was beautiful no matter what as far as he was concerned. But looking at her now and the way the silver light shifted upon her hair as she walked, he felt that perhaps she was at her most beautiful when the moon was her companion. Watching her walk beside Yahiko, she seemed almost ethereal and impossibly mesmerizing. So mesmerizing in fact that he never noticed he was veering off the road and heading straight for a wall… That is, until he ran into it. "Oro!"

This caught the attention of the other two who turned back to investigate. They both stared down at the swirly-eyed rurouni, not quite comprehending what had happened. Then at the same time, almost as if someone had hit them with the Great Bokken of Realization, their eyes widened and the delayed reactions kicked in. Kaoru raced to Kenshin's side to see if he was hurt, fussing over imagined pains as the redhead muttered indistinguishable replies. Yahiko, knowing Kenshin had been staring at Kaoru for a while and guessing that had caused the accident, was too busy rolling on the ground laughing to worry about Kenshin's bruised nose. Kaoru shot him a death glare, but he paid it no mind, as she was too busy with the dazed rurouni to follow through on the threat.

Kenshin shook his head free of the haze and shakily stood up. "Sessha does not think he will be doing that again anytime soon, de gozaru yo…"

This only caused Yahiko, who was already going blue from lack of oxygen, to laugh even harder. Kaoru frowned but deciding to punish him later for it, returned her attention once again to Kenshin.

"Are you alright, Kenshin?"

He nodded sheepishly. "Hai, Kaoru-dono. Sessha is fine. But perhaps we should hurry home. It's getting late and I would not like to make friends with any more walls tonight." He watched her eyes light up with amusement as she giggled. In the background, Yahiko had only just managed to pause and catch a breath when that last statement threw him into another fit of hysterical laughter. Mentally, Kenshin was strangling the kid. Outwardly, he just walked over and picked the boy up by the back of the pants and smiled back at Kaoru. "Shall we go?"

A few minutes later, Yahiko's laughter had died down and he hung limply from Kenshin's grip. He turned the kid slightly to study his slackened features and smiled at Kaoru. "Looks like he finally wore himself out, de gozaru."

Kaoru gave a rather unlady-like snort. "About time. That braying of his could've woken the dead. I'm surprised there wasn't anyone throwing things at us." She sighed and smiled sadly. "But I have to admit, it was nice to hear him laugh again…"

Kenshin silently agreed with the comment. Overall, dinner had gone well and the three had almost seemed themselves again. Kenshin was lamenting his unworthiness, Kaoru was joyfully violent, and Yahiko seemed more like the kid he was supposed to be. He only wished that feeling could carry over until their world was somehow righted, but he knew better than to expect that. If anything, the three would merely grow accustomed to the emptiness in their hearts and routinely trudge through each day as best they could. Both Kaoru and Kenshin hesitated a moment as they reached the dojo gates. The sad eyes that Kaoru now turned to him though were breaking his heart. He didn't want Yahiko and Kaoru to grow accustomed to the sadness brought on by Sano's disappearance. He wanted their hearts to be full and happy. The sadness in her eyes receded as she blushed under his intense gaze. Perhaps there was a way…

Before he realized what he was doing, his mouth was already working in preparation for saying those things that were locked away so tightly in his heart. "Kaoru-dono, sessha was wondering…" Then his head caught up and quickly snapped shut the traitorous body part. Sadly, he could already see the hope building in her eyes, but as much joy as saying those words might bring, it was not a solution to the problem. Besides, he wouldn't feel right placing the burden of his feelings upon her right now. The matters of Sano's disappearance and the thief needed to be solved before he could feel like he wasn't just using her to make himself feel better. After everything she had done for him, Kaoru deserved better than that.

"What is it, Kenshin?"

Kenshin blinked, realizing he was still staring at Kaoru and still needed to find some other way of finishing the sentence his voice had stubbornly started. He searched the recesses of his mind frantically for something, anything he could say in the stead of his confession. At first, nothing presented itself and he began to mentally panic. Every response his mind had managed to come up with thus far was either too far off the wall and would worry her as to his mental state, or would upset her and put him on the receiving end of a rather nasty punch to the face. At this point, he couldn't decide which was more positive prospect: Kaoru thinking he was crazy as a loon, or having to deal with a sore jaw the rest of the night.

'Oh, I was just wondering if I'd look pretty dressed as a woman.' Ok, so the crazy response was out. He didn't even want to contemplate where that one had come from. There are some things men just shouldn't do and dressing as a woman was definitely high on that list. Although, he supposed, if his hair was done just right and he wore that rather nice blue kimono of Kaoru's… NO! he mentally screamed and shivered inwardly. Definitely not the crazy response. Especially when it might prove true…

So that only left the painful route.

'How is it, that when you were cooking lunch today, you managed to poison all six fish that I caught?' Oh, that was surely going to be one hell of a punch. He'd probably feel it for weeks afterward. And although Kenshin was no stranger to pain, he'd rather not purposely incur it upon his being. Besides, he felt appalled that his mind would even come up with such a rude comment. Even if it was true… He just wanted to finish the damn sentence, not throw the poor girl into tears. Surely, there was an acceptable response. He just needed to think harder. And then his mind finally snagged on something worthy of being called 'suitable'.

"Kaoru-dono, what happened to your shawl, de gozaru ka?"

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Empty.

Quiet.

Peaceful.

Everything in the area seemed to be at rest. Most people were tucking themselves into bed, or soon would be, leaving city streets and fields seemingly devoid of life. The forests on the outskirts of Tokyo too were quiet except for the chirp of crickets and perhaps a few animal calls. The dark foliage seemed to shrink away from the fading light of the city as if afraid it. Which, if true, would be understandable considering that light was generated by fires that could easily consume the plant-life, leaving behind nothing but charred cinders and burned animal carcasses.

A warm wind whispered through the dark trees, accompanied only by the sound of near silent footfalls. A shadow passed down a disused game path, more concerned at the moment with speed than stealth. Although the shadow would have much preferred stealth so that none would know of its passing, they couldn't afford the extra seconds it would take. There was little time as it was.

Besides, what fun would it be if their pursuers lost track of them? With a loud thunk, a kunai imbedded itself in a tree just above the figure's head and a smirk found its way onto the shadow's face. The poor bastards can't even aim properly… The figure paused long enough to rip the kunai from the tree and threw it back into darkness, being rewarded with a hiss as it found its target. One down, more to go. Taking off at top speed, the shadow crashed through foliage as if it weren't there. It was soon followed by several others shadows, though the newcomers had a harder time passing through the same areas the other had trekked with ease. A couple of the pursuers who lagged behind had lost their way, and what would surely be their lives, to the darkness of the woods.

This left the first with only a few men left to the chase. Not bad for the runner considering the attackers had originally numbered around ten or fifteen.

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Meanwhile, another trudged through the same forest, albeit a little more slowly and certainly a lot more quietly. But then this person was not only closer to Tokyo, but had the advantage of not being chased. Being thus, she was able to take the main road without fear of being harassed, which also tended to make travel a lot easier.

Munching on a rice cake she'd brought with her, Hisakata Kyouki found that she was rather enjoying her trip. She'd never really been one inclined to travel, but she certainly didn't mind it. Especially on nights like this. The road was deserted, the air was comfortably warm, and everything around her was peacefully quiet. She counted herself lucky, as she had not had any trouble since setting out from her tiny shack. This fact made her slightly wary for some reason, but other than that, she felt completely relaxed. Although she'd never traveled to Tokyo before, she apparently knew the way and had yet to run into the usual scoundrels that roamed such roads.

Maybe they're all on vacation, she thought sarcastically. More than likely they'd already pilfered a rather tidy sum from some poor traveler earlier and decided to go celebrate. Whatever the reason, Kyouki was grateful, though she did admit to feeling some pity for the victim.

However, it wasn't nearly enough to detract from her good mood. Something about the night always made her feel more comfortable, safe somehow, despite the ruffians who tended to lurk in the darkness it provided. The moonlight that cast down and shone between the canopies above her gave the woods a mysterious aura, one that somehow set her heart fluttering and sent adrenaline through her veins. Something about the shadows called to her, almost as if she belonged there amongst the murderers and thieves, yet would somehow be above them.

It was a strange thought. For as long as Kyouki could remember, she'd always been a law-abiding citizen even if she'd never taken an active role in society. What place did a recluse and a painter have among the lowlives of the world? It didn't make any sense. But to melt into shadows and become one with the darkness, it felt like it was something she'd been longing to do for years now.

A very strange thought indeed.

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Those that had trailed the shadowed figure had finally been disposed of, the last having tripped and cracking his head against a tree. The runner hoped the men stayed 'disposed' of. Taking life unnecessarily just didn't hold any appeal.

Besides, completing this task was too important to dawdle around here just to play with the likes of those amateurs. It was a wonder those idiots had managed to keep up that long. The Nentou must have been slipping if he actually thought such weaklings would work. Then again, he was the Nentou, a strategist among strategists, as it were. It was highly possible that those bumbling fools were merely a distraction, nothing more. They were sent to slow one down, not stop a target.

In which case meant speed was even more of priority than ever. But taking the roads still wasn't a good idea. The game trail was still the best choice at this point, as the trees would allow for some cover should there be another attack.

The shadow suddenly blinked in surprise as they passed beyond the trees out into an open field. Apparently, more time had passed than they had originally thought. Wandering a little further, the figure found that they were on a hill over-looking the city of Tokyo. Looking west, to the main road, they saw a lone figure entering the quiet town, and although it was unusual, thought nothing more of it.

A growling sound erupted from the figure and they visibly sweatdropped. "Guess it's time to eat…" Heading into town, he wondered if his counter-part still looked as girly as he used to… and whether there was a restaurant open this time of night, cause they sure as hell weren't cooking their own food.

I'd rather starve!

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Japanese terms

Souken no Shibun:  The Four Parts of Creation

Baka: Idiot

Busu:  ugly

Sessha:  this unworthy one

Bokken: wooden sword

A/N:  *glares at the story* We had words… it finally let me finish typing it. And I've only had a little sugar. Honest.

On another note, Yahoo refuses to let me into my email, so I've switched the one on my bio to my Netscape account. That account's nice to me. *nods, nods*

Aside from the email, I've also posted some IM's people can reach me through. I'll put them here, too, just cause I feel like it. So thbbb!!

ICQ: 76507276

Yahoo messenger: Jadeanime
MSN Messenger: Topothegreat@hotmail.com

*ego can be seen inflating* And the usual eternal gratitude to those who reviewed! Thanks ben and cymberleah! If you don't want to be worshipped ben, that's fine with me. For an alternative, how does a lifetime supply of ice cream sandwiches sound? *drools* Mmm, ice cream sandwich…

And at the suggestion of cymberleah *glomps her for good measure*, who nicely reviewed again, those who do… GET BROWNIES!! *announcer speaks over her happy screeches* Please wait 4-6 weeks for your order to arrive.

*sniffles* And no, this one didn't get pre-read. *smiles* But no one's complained so far, so I guess it's not too bad.