*Disclaimer* I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. My imagination is not that good. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 4

Aoshi was wandering the streets, when he spotted her.

She ducked down immediately, and ran under the crowd. Damn it, he thought, as he was trying to get past all the people crammed on the street. He didn't have a chance, and he knew it. He simply had to keep his head up, walk quickly, and hope that he saw her.

But she lost him.

Well, she's gotten better at that, he reminded himself. For all her faults, her skills as an onmitsu had grown, especially in the past year.

He kept walking along, looking and scanning the edge of the town, especially the edge of the river. His original plan was to sneak up on her at the dojo, but now he knew that she wouldn't go back there unless it was necessary. He knew she was running from him, probably because of how they had last spoken. Probably also because she had sprained his ankle, which my now had mostly healed.

He hoped that she hadn't run into the forest. There was a good chance that the Yazuka were there. He had just run into Fujita Goro earlier, and the two had reluctantly spoken. They had fought alongside Kenshin together, of course, but they were uneasy allies at best.

"I saw your weasel-girl," Saito said. "She saw me too, but ran that direction. Make sure she keeps out of the forest. We were finally able to get the government to agree to dismantle the Yakuza operation going on out there. I guess someone's bribes didn't get paid," he said, lighting a cigarette. He gave Aoshi a blank stare. "They've raped and killed quite a few young girls."

Aoshi nodded and walked away. He'd been trying to keep it out of his mind.

Just then, as he was turning his head, he saw - or did he see?- a long, wiry leg wearing blue shorts slip under the trees. He decided to follow it. The sun was getting close to setting, but Aoshi wasn't worried about the Yakuza attacking him. He was worried about Misao and her trusting nature.

He walked about five miles into the forest, wandering around. He kept trying to find her trail - it took him at least an hour. Finally, he heard some noise. It was glass bottles being thrown into a fire. He looked through a clearing in the trees and came upon a group of about 12 men sitting around it. What he saw was shocking, even to him. A young girl was tied to a pole. Her clothes were bound loosely around her, and the men were eyeing her greedily. She looked as though she had tried to break free for several hours, but the bruises all over her legs showed that she had been beaten every time she tried to escape. She had given up and, though conscious, was hanging limply.

"What's keeping Otaru? I thought he said he'd found another one for us! One girl isn't enough for twelve!" A sniveling little man said.

"Shut up, Minoru," said a tall, gangly man. He was holding a sword and looked vaguely disinterested. "If you think that you look innocent enough to trick young girls into eating poison, you can take his position. As it is, you wouldn't be able to trick a dog."

"Why you-" the sniveling man ran up, about to strike the tall man, when someone said, "Shut up, both of you - they're bringing the next one."

What Aoshi saw next he barely even registered for about a minute.

Misao was shackled, hand and foot, she was being dragged by a chain obviously under the effect of some sort of drug. She was trying to fight the men, and likely would have won if she wasn't stumbling and falling with every step.

And she was completely naked.

The men were all eyeing her hungrily, and one of them said, "Really, Otaru? Is that the best you can do? She's so skinny - barely even a woman!" He laughed.

You die first, was Aoshi's first coherent thought.

The farmer was demanding payment, but Aoshi couldn't hear him speak. He was numb with intense hatred. He was trying to figure out the best way to kill every single one of them. Slowly.

He heard, or rather sensed, someone coming up on him. To his surprise, it was Himura. He wondered if Kenshin had been tipped off by Saito, or what. Kenshin took one look at the scene, blanched, and then immediately looked at Aoshi, pleading him with his eyes to think before acting.

Through the consuming, fiery hate he felt, he knew that Misao herself wouldn't wish them dead. And with how much she had suffered already, he didn't want to add to her guilt.

I suppose these dogs aren't worth my blade, anyway.

Angry as he was, Aoshi waited for a moment, trying to figure out his best strategy. It was no good if he managed to get Misao killed. But a few seconds later, he was unable to control himself.

Apparently, a price had been reached and the farmer prepared to leave. But before he did, Two of the men ran up to Misao and the other girl. One man began to grope her and try to drag her behind a bush. That was enough for Aoshi.

He felt a thunderclap go off inside of him, full of white-hot fury. He ran out of the trees, and Himura followed him. He began cutting down the men, though he was using his stick, not his sword.

He ran, smacking men mercilessly with his stick, breaking bones, blackening eyes. He would love to beat them to a pulp, but chose to restrain himself. He needed to get Misao unbound - he had heard one of the men talk of poisoning and was thinking to himself that she might not make it if he didn't help her soon. If she wasn't already dead, that was. But he tried not to think about that. If she were dead indeed, then nothing Himura said could stop him from murdering all of them.

Himura looked at him and said, "Aoshi, please, take Misao-dono back to Megumi-dono. She needs help, fast."

He ran up to her and grabbed her hand. She was cold as ice, but still had a pulse. He cut her loose with his knife and, averting his eyes, he took his coat off and wrapped her in it. He then took off with all the speed he possessed.

Please Misao, he thought to himself. Don't die. I can't take it if someone else close to me dies. Especially you.

He wished she would wake up. Right at this moment, he would say it straight to her face.