Disclaimer: See the previous chapters

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-III-

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"Thank you for the meal, Okina-san."

With a grateful bow, Soujiro showed his appreciation for the innkeeper's hospitality. Okina returned the gesture and smiled at the young man.

"You're welcome, Soujiro-kun. Feel free to drop by anytime."

Soujiro nodded, but in truth, he didn't believe he would come back this direction again. At least that's what he believed; he wasn't sure. He really didn't expect to stay as long as he did. That was thanks to a certain energetic girl who just wouldn't take no for an answer. Speaking of whom, Soujiro stopped for a moment and turned back the elder.

"May I ask a favor of you?"

"What is it?"

The smile on Soujiro's face had diminished greatly and his eyes, distant. "Misao-dono doesn't know who I...who I was. It might be best if she does not learn what I tried to do."

Okina nodded in understanding. "If that is your wish. But I doubt it will make a difference to her. Misao's not to type to care about people's pasts."

"Maybe..." Soujiro's face then lit up back to its previous pleasant form. "But I think it will be less trouble that way."

Upon hearing this, Okina began to chuckle lightly, much to the confusion of the young man. Seeing the confused Soujiro, Okina waved his hand in dismissal, though he continued to smile.

"It's nothing."

Taking the hint from the elder man, Soujiro dismissed it as well. "Well... Take care, Okina-san."

"You too."

With that, Soujiro finally turned and walked away from the Aoi-Ya. As he moved down the streets, he found his thoughts remaining on his brief experience in the inn. It has been a long time since he was shown such kindness from people. He didn't expect for it to come in Kyoto, in the Aoi-Ya of all places. But he couldn't remain there. He couldn't afford to be recognized or discovered. And...his soul was tormented enough as it is with the reason of his return to begin with. His thoughts consumed him so; he didn't notice the pair that was coming through him through the crowd of people until they came close enough.

"Soujiro?"

"Misao-dono?" His eyes moved over to the side and blinks at the sight of the man standing next to her. Misao didn't notice this though and begins to apologize for earlier.

"Oh, hey. Sorry for running off like that, but I had to catch up to..."

"Shinomori-san..." Soujiro finished, mostly speaking to Aoshi who was silently staring back at him.

Now noticing the stare between the two, Misao inquired to her beloved mentor. "You know him, Aoshi-sama?"

"Tenken..."

"What?" she blinked in surprise.

"Soujiro no Tenken..."

"Tenken?" Her eyes darted to Soujiro and then back to Aoshi. "What?"

Aoshi's eyes never strayed from the young man, who continued to hold his usual pleasant face. "Why are you here?"

"There he is!"

"Huh?"

Soujiro turned to the sound of yelling and commotion coming from behind him. There, a group of men were coming up toward him. Leading them was a large man with a gray cloak draped down from around his shoulders. Judging from his stance and the way he walked, he must have had a weapon underneath it. Upon seeing Soujiro, he scowled and then turned to one of his comrades.

"That's the guy? He's a kid." He looked back over at young man. "And a scrawny one at that."

"Yeah." the smaller man replied. "I saw him floor Toji, with one blow."

The big man grunted. "Must have been a cheap shot. Or a lucky one. Either way, you'll have to pay for what you've done, kid."

Soujiro sighed mentally. They were obviously friends of the man that he took down earlier in the day in the Shirobeko. Not only that, they wanted revenge too. This wasn't exactly what Soujiro thought would happen when he returned to Kyoto. At worse, he thought he'd have to deal with the police in the case they knew who he was, even though that was unlikely (few knew his identity as he worked in the shadows). But it appears that somehow, he has made enemies in the brief time he was here.

"I am sorry about what happened to your friend, but I did warn him that I didn't want to fight."

"And you think that'll let you off the hook?" the man growled, beginning to reach inside his cloak. "Sorry kid, but that's not how we do things."

"If you please, sir. I'd really rather not fight."

"Then beating you will be easier."

Whipping his cloak back, the man suddenly lunged at Soujiro. In his hand was a large club-like weapon. The weapon came close to slamming down onto Soujiro's skull when the youth...suddenly disappeared.

The shock in the man's eyes was evident, as it was in eyes of the other men and Misao's as well. She had to blink twice just to make sure she didn't imagine it. 'What...was that?' Even Aoshi, who's face hadn't changed at all, was surprised. Not that Soujiro dodged the attack, but by the speed itself that he did it in. That certainly wasn't the Shinsoku -Godspeed-, but it appeared faster. So much so that Aoshi was unable to follow it.

'So that's Shukuchi...'

It took the large thug a full minute to realize that Soujiro was now behind him. He didn't believe what had just happened and neither did the rest of his gang. Turning around, the man snarled a curse as he glared at the young man.

...who continued to smile at him...

"Don't you think there's another way we can settle this?"

"You brat!"

Infuriated, the thug swung at him again, with the same result and with Soujiro now at his left side. Turning to Soujiro again, the large man was practically seething, both by his wasted efforts and by Soujiro's continual smile. It was as though the young man was mocking him. Turning to his friends, the big man roared.

"What are you waiting for? Get him!"

The others, who were stunned by Soujiro's movement, suddenly charged at him with loud shouting and raised fists/weapons. But despite the mad charge, not a single one of them could touch or even get near Soujiro, for the youth seemed to disappear every time they came. From the side, both Aoshi and Misao continued to watch. For Misao, she was amazed to see Soujiro in motion. 'Wow... I guess this explains how he got that guy.' For Aoshi, a different thought was present in his mind.

'He hasn't attacked yet...'

Aoshi had long noticed the concealed sword at Soujiro's side. Given what he knew about the youth and the speed he was going in, he could have dispatched these thugs at any given time. But it appeared that he was only wearing them down, letting them tire out. Hardly actions of Shishio's deadliest assassin…

Meanwhile, the group of thugs was all tiring from chasing Soujiro around. The leader, bending down and panting from his wasted swings, continued to glare at Soujiro, who in turn, smiled back.

"Perhaps enough's enough?"

The large thug's eyes lowered to the ground and a sinister thought soon same to his mind. Reaching down to the dirt, he suddenly tossed a spray of dirt toward Soujiro's eyes. On reflex, Soujiro lifted his hand to protect himself. Unfortunately, this allowed the fallen thug to dash at Soujiro and hit him in the side with his weapon.

"Ah!"

Soujiro stumbled back against one of the houses, holding his side in pain. Meanwhile, the large thug began to advance upon him, his club ready to strike again. Soujiro recovered quickly enough and prepared to dodge, but then...

"You goddamn brat! I can't stand you anymore! I'll kill you myself!"

"Kill him, brother!"

"Yeah, I'll kill him."

"Kill him now!"

"Ahhhhhh!"

In a snap, Soujiro grabbed hold of his head and backed away, screaming in sheer terror. This sudden panic-attack however, did not stop the thug from striking the youth down, slamming the club right on his skull. Soujiro crashed to the ground and slid across the dirt. With his snarl turning into a grin, the large thug began to close in on him, followed by his gang.

"Little punk. You're not so cocky now, are you!"

Rearing his foot back, the thug made ready to kick the fallen rurouni, only to find himself flying though the air. The reason? A certain kunoichi flying through the air with a flying-bird-kick-of-rage that connected with the back of the thug's head. As the thug hit the ground, Misao landed on the ground and quickly moved over to Soujiro.

"Soujiro! Soujiro-kun, are you alright?"

The young man gave no response and the back of his head was beginning to become wet with blood. The others thugs were enraged by this and began to move in toward her. Hearing their steps, Misao quickly whirled around and began to draw a kunai from under her sleeve. But that proved unnecessary as Aoshi made his presence known.

"It would be wise for you all to leave now."

The men turned to the sound of his voice and their thoughts were completely wiped away by the appearance of the man. For those who know of him, they only heard rumors and whispered stories about the deadly okishira of the Oniwanbanshu. For the rest, the cold glare of the man was enough to send a chill or three up their spine. In any case, it was only and the thugs dispersed, stopping only to pick their leader from the side and leave. With them gone, Misao returned her attention to the wounded Soujiro, who seemed to be whimpering something before falling into unconsciousness.

"Someone... help...me..."