Author's note: I messed up. In the last chapter, Yahiko said he had been gone for two years. He has actually only been gone for one. Sorry for the blooper:)

Also, I will try to update as often as I can, but with school starting, I'm going to be REALLY busy. Writing is my recreational time, though, so…we'll see what happens.

Chapter 3-

Yahiko lay on his futon in the darkness, listening to the soft voices of Kenshin and Kaoru as they returned to bed.

Resting his head on his hands, he looked about the familiar room, remembering. Remember how many times he had scrubbed those floors, remembering how he would sneak food from the kitchen as a midnight snack, remembering how he would secretly try and imitate Kenshin's Ryu-Suyitsen with his bokken.

At that thought, Yahiko felt a pang of guilt. He shouldn't have said those things to them, especially after just showing up in the middle of the night. It wasn't fair to them. They couldn't know why he had changed while he wandered. They couldn't understand what he felt so strongly. The look on Kaoru's face…

Stubbornly brushing the memory aside, he turned on his side and stared at the wall. The dojo was completely silent now.

He stood and quietly opened the shoji door. Judging by the moon, he still had two hours left until midnight. Restlessness seemed to gnaw him as he noiselessly paced the room. He paused as his gaze alighted on a small stain in the corner.

Grinning to himself, he knelt down next to it. He remembered that stain. Kaoru had been furious when she had caught him secretly sipping sake. He had been so startled by her entrance that he had spilled the alcohol on the floor, making Kaoru even more angry.

His smile faded and was replaced by a grimace as a pain stabbed across his forehead. He looked towards the opened door, willing the moon to move faster across the sky.

There was a reason why he wanted time to pass quickly. He hadn't had had a drink in two days now, and he was already beginning to feel the effects. No doubt that was why he had lost his temper so quickly that evening.

Straightening, he let out a long breath. He had never meant to become so addicted, but Katsu had always insisted on the liquor being served. It loosened the mind, he had said.

At the thought of Katsu, Yahiko felt his stomach clench in anticipation. Tonight was the night. It was the night that Katsu would decide who had proved himself worthy enough.

Turning to his pack that lay on the floor, he reverently unwrapped something he hadn't dare show Kenshin or Kaoru. It lay glistening in the pale moonlight, a curved serpent of steel, sharpened to kill.

Even as he gazed at it, a thrill went through his heart. This was true weaponry. The katana's deadly potential filled him with a sense of power every time he held it in his hands.

Indeed. Yahiko thought as he strapped the sword to his waist. Power is everything. I know that now.

0-0-0

As Yahiko stalked through the dark streets, he knew that he was in trouble. His breathing was coming heavily and his hands trembled with the thought of drink. Nausea raged in his insides as he quickened his pace. How had he become so addicted? He thought that he had been better than that, a slave to nothing and no one.

Shame and anger prodded at him as he paused in front of his destination, a squat house in a nondescript neighborhood of Tokyo. He had to break his reliance on alcohol, starting tonight.

Grim with determination, Yahiko tapped lightly on the door three times. A pause, then twice more.

The door lid open slightly, and in the moonlight, Yahiko saw the gleam of two eyes peering at him.

"The rain brings death," a voice rasped.

"And Everlasting Thunder," Yahiko replied in a low voice.

The speaker hesitated. "You're late."

Yahiko impatiently wiped the cold perspiration that was forming on his forehead. "I got lost," he growled. "Katsu never-"

"Shut up!" the voice snapped, opening the door wide enough to let him enter. "No real names, remember?"

"Sorry," Yahiko muttered as he crossed the threshold.

"They're meeting in the back room," the voice whispered. Yahiko squinted in the near complete darkness, trying to make out the speaker's features. He didn't recognize the voice from any other of the meetings, and he didn't trust the low chuckle that broke through the dark.

"No need to be suspicious," the voice said. "If Ikazuchi-sama trusts me, that should be good enough for you."

Grinding his teeth at the quiet laughter that followed him down the hall, Yahiko navigated his way towards the lighted room.

0-0-0

In the silent streets of Tokyo, a dark figure paused in front the house he had seen Yahiko enter, quickly surveying his options. Quietly, he circled to the back of the house, his ears straining to pick up any sounds of speech from within.

There. He paused when he heard the soft murmurs of conversation. Crouching towards the ground, he pressed his ear against the wall. If he listened close enough, he would be able to hear what they were saying.

0-0-0

As he slowly slid the door open, Yahiko saw that the meeting had already begun. A group of a dozen young men sat in a circle, a single lantern placed in the center that shed dancing yellow light on their features. His face flushed with embarrassment as he felt everyone's eyes on him.

"You're late, Yahiko-kun."

Yahiko looked up and met Katsu's serious gaze. The dark hair that hung about his face shadowed his eyes, but the boring stare from them was unmistakable. Sitting in the only chair in the room, Katsu imposed an air of authority, despite his boyish looks.

"My apologies, Ikazuchi-sama," Yahiko said, bowing slightly.

"You are forgiven. Please take a seat by me." There was a smile in Katsu's voice, his tone immediately cheery as Yahiko went to his side and sat down. "No doubt you were detained at the rurouni's dojo."

Yahiko couldn't hide his surprise as light snickers rippled across the room. "But how did-"

"I keep a close eye on my followers," Katsu interrupted smoothly, a benevolent grin still on his face. "And you proved yourself steadfast in the face of your old beliefs."

Yahiko's heart flipped in pleasure as shame seemed to slap him in the face. He sat up straighter, forcing himself to look expectant despite the pain coursing through his head.

"It took a lot of convincing when you first came to us." Katsu's mocking tone made Yahiko flush at the memory. "You said that you followed…" He paused, cocking his head. "What was it again?"

"Kamiya Kasshin -ryu," Yahiko said quietly.

"Yes! That was it!" Katsu barked out a derisive laugh. "And taught by a girl what's more!"

The whole group laughed with their leader. Yahiko looked down at the floor, his cheeks still hot.

"I remember that you challenged me to a duel," Katus went on. "A bokken against a katana!"

One of the young men in the circle laughed especially loud. Yahiko glared at him fiercely, recognizing him as a regular attendee of Katsu's meetings. Tekagami considered himself a favorite of Katu's.

"I beat you in three moves. Your shock was most amusing." Katsu shook his head. "And now…you're one of us."

Slowly, he picked up a jug of sake that sat near him and poured it into a cup. His eyes narrowed in seriousness as he offered it to Yahiko.

"Please drink to your success this night, Yahiko," Katsu said. "We have an important mission to discuss."

Staring at the cup, Yahiko tried to hide his eagerness, but he could not control the shaking fingers that greedily snatched the sake cup. He knew that he had decided quit, but Katsu himself had handed him the drink…

Katsu breathed a laugh as Yahiko drank the sake in one quick gulp.

"Careful, my friend," he said as he poured more sake into Yahiko's outstretched cup. "Not too fast. I need you to listen very closely tonight."

Katsu turned his gaze towards the other young men gathered. Yahiko noticed that most of them had empty sake cups near them, as well as several jugs of the alcohol. They all looked towards Katsu eagerly. Some glanced at Yahiko with jealousy. He smirked when he caught Takagami's eye. All mocking laughter had left his smug face.

"We have come to our goal." Katsu's voice, quiet and commanding, captivated every ear. "We fight…to take back what our fathers so foolishly lost." His eyes snapped with an angry fire. "For too long have we squandered under this government's rule! For too long have we been shamefully forced to forget our rightful and noble heritage! For too long have we been tramped upon!" Katsu's voice quivered in righteous indignation. "The way of the samurai must return to Japan!"

Yahiko's heart pumped in his ears, his mind whirling with the effects of the sake of the effects of Katsu's words.

"I know your stories. They are all the same." Katsu's face darkened. "After the revolution, our fathers became groveling fools before the new government, licking the boots of political dogs who should have been bowing to them. They denounced their heritage and left us in the dust." He paused. "Our time has come to take it once more. Victory is nearly in our hands!"

The air was taut with the tense silence. All eyes were fixed on Katsu.

"Tomorrow night our plan comes to a head. You have all prepared and devoted yourselves to carrying it out, no matter what the cost. You are true samurai. Your righteousness and justice will carry you to victory."

Yahiko's heart stirred within him at these words. You are true samurai. How many times had he declared his heritage to those who would look down on him? He ashamedly thought of his days as a pickpocket, no more than a slave to greedy thieves who mocked his noble claims. All those times when he had been underestimated, teased, and defeated, giving in to his own weakness.

It was time for change.

"I have traveled much over Japan in these past two years. I have gained many supporters who have been enlightened to the injustice of this land. And there will be one from among you tonight whom I have chosen to lead the destruction of the ambassador's house tomorrow."

Katsu gazed upon every young man seated in the circle at his feet. His eyes stopped when they met Yahiko's.

Yahiko could hardly breathe as Katsu slowly stood to his feet, motioning for Yahiko to do likewise.

"Yahiko-kun," Katsu said gravely, his piercing stare like black fire. "Do you accept this mission? Do you become my first general in the beginning of this glorious war for truth?"

"Yes, Ikazuchi-sama," Yahiko whispered, bowing. "With all my heart."

0-0-0

Yahiko's elation was mixed with the dwindling effects of the sake as he stumbled through towards the Kamiya dojo.

"Do you accept his mission? Do you become my first general in this glorious war for truth?"

He could hardly believe his fortune as he blinked at the faint beginnings of dawn that tinged the sky. To be Katsu's right hand man? His most trusted servant? Yahiko's heart swelled at the thought.

He stopped at the dojo's gates, leaning against them to gather himself. He had to be very quiet so that he could slip into his bedroom unnoticed. As he again gazed at the pale sky, he realized he had lost track of time at the meeting house. The group had left one by one so as not to bring suspicion to anyone who might happen to see them. Yahiko had stayed by Katsu's side, relaying the plan for tomorrow night's first uprising.

"Remember, Yahiko-kun," Katsu had said. "You are samurai. This ambassador deserves to die for daring tread his filthy Western shoe on our sacred soil, helping to aid the injustice of the Meiji rule. Do you swear that you have the capacity to murder him?"

The word 'murder' sounded so ugly on Katsu's tongue, yet Yahiko had nodded enthusiastically. "The fools think that they are safe here," Yahiko had added bitterly, matching Katu's tone. "I will personally prove them otherwise."

Katsu smiled in approval. "That is correct, my friend," he said. He paused for a moment, regarding Yahiko solemnly. "Once the ambassador from Germany is dead, there will be a war on Japan. That is when I shall need you the most. That is when the true samurai will arise and be Japan's salvation from its own treachery."

Yahiko had been the last to leave and now wondered if he had should have declined Katsu's last invitation to drink. Perhaps his knees wouldn't have felt so wobbly.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and slowly pushed open the dojo doors. They were still unlocked as he had left them, thankfully, and they didn't make a sound as he stepped into the courtyard. As quietly as he could, he pushed them back into their place, making sure to lock them behind him.

He took a tentative step, listening for sounds of movement from within the dojo. There was only silence.

Satisfied, he relaxed and began tiptoeing towards his room.

"You need not try to be quiet, that you don't."

Yahiko froze and grimaced. Reluctantly, he turned towards Kenshin's voice. The rurouni stood leaning against the wall of the dojo, his usually kind face surprisingly hard.

Yahiko noticed that Kenshin was fully dressed, his sakabatou strapped to his side. Obviously he had been awake for a long time. Blinking heavily, Yahiko groped for a excuse.

"I…I went on a walk," he said lamely, knowing that it was unconvincing. "I got lost on the way back."

Kenshin straightened and shook his head. "Yahiko, I find this hard enough to bear without you lying to me."

"Since when do you start sounding like my father?" Yahiko exclaimed, indignation mounting in him. "As if you had any right to question me."

"I have no need to question you. I know where you went last night."

Yahiko's insides froze. He stared at Kenshin, open-mouthed.

As he took a step towards him, Kenshin's stern gaze seemed to melt something inside of Yahiko. He lowered his eyes quickly under the rurouni's scrutiny. "There is…there is no way you can know that," he stammered.

"I followed you."

There was silence in the courtyard. Neither of them spoke for a moment as Kenshin's words closed in on him.

Yahiko risked a look at him. "You…you know?"

"I heard everything," Kenshin said, his words edged with intensity. "And I am ashamed of you."

His words stung terribly, and Yahiko fought to keep the tears from his swollen eyes. Every old desire of wanting Kenshin's approval rose up in him, and he lowered his head remorsefully.

You are true samurai…

Katsu's words rang through his mind, challenging him. Defiance quelling his guilt, he looked met Kenshin's gaze, his fists clenched at his sides. Who was this man to accuse him?

"Why should I care what you think?" Yahiko growled.

"It doesn't matter if you care, Yahiko," Kenshin snapped, his voice rising. "What matters is what I heard at that meeting."

Yahiko breathed a laugh. "Of course," he sneered. "It's the killing, isn't it? Is it too much for you? Or perhaps you are just jealous. Your weakness hinders you from being who could truly be."

"This isn't about me!" Kenshin said sharply. "This is about you realizing that you are planning to murder innocent people for that sake of your own glory. Do you truly understand that, Yahiko?"

"No, do you understand?" Yahiko said, his voice rising. "Do you understand what it feels like to be demeaned your whole life for who you are? Do you know what it means to have a history of greatness, but having to live with the disdain that others thrust upon you? I wandered for a year, looking for answers, and I found them with Katsu! He showed me that the rule of the samurai is the only just and glorious way. And I count it a privilege to kill any who oppose that!"

"Yahiko, listen to yourself! You're calling for an old order, one that fell in bloodshed." Kenshin held out his hands imploringly. "Think about what you're saying!"

"Come on, Kenshin," Yahiko said, swiftly pulling out his katana. "I want to end this now."

Kenshin didn't make any move to draw his blade. "If you think that I will fight you to resolve this, you are mistaken," he said, shaking his head.

"Don't you dare back down from my challenge!" Yahiko cried, his head light with anger and sake.

"Yahiko, you don't know what you're doing." Kenshin's voice softened for a moment as he took a step forward. "It will do no good to fight me, that it won't."

"Shut up!" Yahiko screamed, charging at the rurouni.