Author's Notes: Originally this and the next chapter used to be one chapter... however, in my rewriting of the chapter, this section ended up much longer than I anticipated. So I decided to cut it in uneven halves and let them become two chapters instead. This means that the next chapter will be a bit on the short end, but then again, depending on how it's rewritten, it might very well be the same length. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter... and, same old, same old. Please read and review! I'd like to know what readers are thinking and how to improve this story.

Chapter 3

It was a long night for the end of a long day. By reading the natural clock of the heavens, judged by the slight shifts of diamond dust thrown over a deep blue background, Saitou knew it was nearly eleven. The Tokyo streets leading away from its bustling center were already empty on this uneventful night; the dark alleys were completely deserted. This was nearing the hour where the line between early and late blurred, and when most of the city's respectible citizens would find themselves a place to stay indoors.

The silver beams of a waning moon shining out between an inconstant cloud cover was the only illumination through these unlit roadways, and by its light, Saitou made his way past a street of traders closed for the night. He knew there would still be a soba stand open ahead, just around the bend of the baker's shop and cutting through a short alley. He passed by it often enough these last few days while going home to his temporary lodgings.

Work had dragged throughout the day and far enough into the evening such that he missed his dinner. The investigation on the opium ship Ragnarok was occupying much more of his precious time than previously anticipated. Even minus the one Battousai had taken away that morning, their jail cells were still full of twenty-one others for which the government was taking much too long to deal with. They were different in all manner of shape and background, but alike in the fact that they either didn't know anything or stubbornly refused to admit something. Whoever had chosen these men had planned for this, that much Saitou had to admire. But it didn't make it any less annoying when each half hour interrogation disclosed nothing more than the names of their prisoners. When they disclosed that at all.

They should've directly moved on to harsher methods. If this assignment was fully his to begin with, Saitou would have dealt with the mess from a completely different angle, but the government never showed their interest in the matter. To them, this was just another shipment of many, and they were unconcerned of leaving the conspirators free for another attempt. He doubted they would consider taking him off his main assignment to give him the go ahead on this issue.

He passed by the bakery with an exasperated sigh. Even at this late hour, the aroma of baked items infused into the location mingled with the smoke of his cigarette. It reminded him enough of his hunger that he quickened his step.

Saitou could see where the government was lacking resources to pursue a fuller investigation than these simple raids, but that was why they should have employed operatives like him to begin with. However, given that his hands are already tied with the underground slave dealing case, he suppose they would have to find some other operative. Undeniably the government teamed with enough capable men after the end of the Bakumatsu.

Which brought to fore his other business here in Tokyo. It was by sheer luck that his current assignment transferred him as an undercover here to the very station closest to Battousai's lodgings. Perhaps the chance conclude what had begun in the Bakumatsu would arrive sooner than he had foreseen.

He approached the isolated alley that was the shortcut through some residential areas to the soba shop. The moon offered minimal light to reveal the barest of his surrounding environment in shades of black and gray. A flash of dark shadow ran across his vision as a tiny mouse scurried out from beneath a pile of rubble and darted across the deserted grounds, probably in search of food like he was. Excess wooden beams meant to be the skeleton of some forgotten building lay unused against the dirt smudged walls, the height of some of them stood higher than the very walls themselves.

It was a dismal locale he normally paid little attention to, but today, he pulled himself to a leisured stop by the neck of the alleyway. The way he placed a hand over the hilt of his sword was performed as a casual action, like a man reclining his arm on a familiar armrest. Saitou's other hand raised up to relieve the weight of the nicotine stick from his lips.

Smoke exhaled from his lungs in a noiseless sigh. A fresh breath of night air was a good remedy for clearing a tired mind and he took several while waiting at the mouth of the alley.

Before he was required to speak out, the first movement came somewhere ahead of him. It was just a shift in the shadows behind the pile of unwanted timber, the presence of a blackness that was a gradient darker than the rest of the surrounding shade. A scuffle, too loud to be made by the scavenger mouse, flowed out from the other end of the short corridor.

It would appear that the pathway ahead was occupied by several rats.

When it became obvious that this was as far as the ambush would go, one by one the creatures scurried away from their spots of hiding. The limited space of the alley gradually filled up with four dark beings. The light of the weak moon revealed them only as spectres dressed in black, camouflaging outfits and did little to reveal the faces hidden by protective shadows. Still, there was more than enough light to reveal the gleam of deadly steel held in seemingly invisible hands.

The loud shuffle of footfalls from behind alerted him of the two who stepped out to flank him. It would appear that he had missed those two. They were proving to be too organized to be a normal gang of larceners, and lacked the stealth simple thieves would possess. It was quite clearly then, by method of elimination, that they came here with a purpose: him.

"You're Fujita Gorou?" One of them, presumably the leader, spoke in a deep voice that reverberated down the length of dark alley.

Saitou allowed the cigarette to slip between his fingers and drop unceremoniously to the ground. From habit, he crushed out the ember tip with the heel of his boot. Without that soft ambient glow and without a drawn blade to reflect heaven's light, he was now standing in the darkness as much as they were.

"Hai, Fujita Gorou is myself. How may I help you gentlemen?" He knew they wouldn't be able to see it when he smiled in his friendly policeman manner, but he did so anyway.

A snicker sounded from behind him to his right as the assumed leader spoke again. "You're the bastard who lead the raid on Ragnarok's goods?"

Ah, so that incident was what this attack was about. He had made such an amount of enemies that placing them all would have been impossible; it was decidedly nice that they deemed to inform him. A glint of interest shone in his smile at the prospect of finding a new lead for the case.

Saitou replied with a friendly query of his own, "Are you gentlemen related to that incident?"

"Answer the question, damn you!"

"Who hired you?"

"You're in no position to raise questions!"

Again, he didn't answer but chuckled in dry amusement.

"Bastard, you think this is funny?!"

"What're we waiting for?" A voice in the dark asked. This lead to another joining in, "He's Fujita Gorou, ain't he?"

They were getting restless now. Movement in the shadows suggested the back ranks were shifting in agitation. Sensing this, their leader took a bold step forward and raised his blade while the gleam of silver behind him indicated the others were likewise prepared. They were stupid to have drawn their weapons so prematurely in this constricted surroundings, it severely restricted their movements. At least they had successfully sandwiched him between their two factions. It wouldn't give them any advantage here, but under normal circumstances, it would have been a good tactic.

Saitou reached into his pocket in search of another cigarette. After rummaging around, a new stick was pulled out between gloved fingers and placed it between his lips. He fixed the group before him with a bored glare. "You're wasting my time if you're not going to answer my questions."

That made the decision for them. Unable to stand his audacity, or what they probably interpreted as insolence, the leader responded with another bold step forward. The man was nearly halfway across the alley now, and the moon peaked out from behind a cloud covering long enough to reveal a sharp nose in. "Takashima-san had instructed us to send Fujita Gorou to the Buddha... We wanted to verify your blame first, but you've sealed your own fate!"

Now they were getting somewhere. That one little exchange revealed more information that his whole day's efforts had. The fool was overconfident, and presently Saitou received a cornerstone for the police force to start their inquests on. Even without the name list of their penitentiary's new guests on hand, he knew that none of them possessed the name of Takashima.

The threat on his life by worthless rodents was inconsequential.

"This turned out to be a fortunate meeting. You've saved me a lot of footwork for finding the real dealer's name." He removed the stick of white from his lips and returned it to his pocket to save for later. "Is there anything else you want to disclose?"

"Kill!"

The one word command was shouted loudly by the leader, and like the samurai of the Bakumatsu, the ones behind him all charged fearlessly headlong towards him. The gleaming katana in his hand was obviously thought nothing of; the symbol of such a blade marking him as an elite swordsman and a chosen member of the sword bearing police brushed aside as mere insignificance.

Even as the four ahead charged towards him, the two positioned behind kept their distance. It was apparent that they merely served the role of keeping him from escaping and held no real position in this attack. It was just as well. He reckoned he could deal with the observing two later, maybe even drag them back for questioning in the aftermath, but for now, the four ahead were closing in.

Saitou's amiable smile dropped to a predatory leer. Perhaps they shouldn't have so easily dismissed his sword.

These men knew the patron they sweat for headed the opium ring, and regardless, they found him worthy of following. They were willing to sell their skill with a sword to kill a policeman knowing no more than his name. Against men like these, the captain of the Shinsengumi third division found no redemption in mercy.

At present the moon had disappeared once more between a dark blanket and left only the stars to guide them. In this newfound darkness, Saitou made out that they were trying to use the darkness to their advantage. The maneuver was to surround him while he was unaware, but the current situation was so absurd that he could barely hold back his smirk. The narrow alley forced the approaching men to advance in single file while their swords remained held high and were more deadly to themselves than him. This temporary lack of light, while advantageous to their stealth, were just as much a hindrance to their movement where any sudden change would skewer them on their own blades. They had no choice but to slow down.

Unhurried and with all the time it took for his targets to file out of the alley, Saitou got into his Gatotsu stance. He exchanged his grip on the katana from the right hand to the left and held it up to his shoulder level parallel to the ground. Using his free hand, he directed it along the length of the blade until his right fingers stretched over the tip of the sword for the duo purpose of directing and balance. His right leg stepped forward and his left leg shifted back, both knees similarly bent to a near ninety degrees. In that stance he stood, and waited.

When the four attackers came upon him, none but the leading man truly understood the justice that fell upon them. The first man arrived with his katana slashing diagonally downwards, a powerful strike that drew strength from both arms in a sturdy two handed grip. Yet Saitou, lithe as the wolves he was known to be part of, deftly swayed his body a slight bit to the right and the man missed completely. Things came to a reverse when it was Saitou's turn. As soon as the onslaught missed, Saitou launched his own counterattack at a pointblank range. The Gatotsu Ishiki shot forward, a horizontal thrust supported by Saitou's entire body's strength as his left hand drove the length of the blade through three and a half abdomens.

"Let me tell you, rats were never meant to defeat a wolf," he whispered in the face of the shocked leader. A final twist of his sword cut through flesh, bone, and skin alike, and disemboweled all four of his enemies at once.

The dam of solid steel was removed when he slashed his blade through the wall of human tissue. In an arc, blood pumped by dying hearts flooded outwards to splatter across his uniform and face, covering them with droplets of burning crimson. The four bodies dropped like rag dolls across one another. They were still alive but their lives were quickly draining from them.

This left his katana encased in a fluid red sheath all the way to the hilt. Taking out a white square of cloth from his back pocket, he wiped it down indifferently before discarding the square over the bodies. By the time the square landed, the last of their gurgled breathing had hitched to an end.

There was nothing more he could do about these four, Saitou slowly turned, but there were still two alive and healthy rats left.

The two men who had stood guard against his escape were presently trying to escape themselves. Even if the lack of light had robbed them of the details, they must have still witnessed the death of those four. The moon chose that moment to hide behind a shelter of drifting clouds, shrouding her glory as if the night was too bloody for her to witness.

In this sudden darkness, Saitou launched himself forward. He had repositioned himself into the Gatotsu stance during the retreat of the two spineless rats, and the sudden dimming of the moon acted as the signal for his attack. While these men were cowards, they may still be useful in the investigation such that Saitou aimed only for shoulder of the slower one; cowards are generally more talkative.

The first one screamed when his blade bit in, but apparently he had underestimated the cornered ferocity of the vermin. In a last gambit to get free, the impaled one drew his own sword and made a wild swing towards him. He parried the amateur's blow, and with a wide practiced slash across his front, dispatched him before more swings were forthcoming. That left only one other alive left to be questioned.

Regretfully, the shriek drew more attention than what Saitou desired.

Several lightless buildings began regaining their sparks as curious spectators tried to make out the situation. "What's going on?" Someone shouted by the edge of the residential district. People were getting involved now, and it would only be a matter of time before the rat would disappear amongst this camouflage.

He glanced up to catch the the final one newly unfreezing to run back towards the baker's corner. The attack to his companion must have frozen him, a fortunate event that allowed the gap between them to remain moderate.

Up ahead, a flickering flame from a candle indicated that the bread master up as well, and by its traveling shadow, suggested the man was going to investigate.

If he stalled any longer, citizens would become involved. That was the deciding factor.

Saitou positioned himself and considered the distance between him and the fleeing man. It was substantial, but a boosted thrust should be able to cover it in two bounds. It would be better than any alternatives, including that of throwing his weapon.

These men sided with the opium traders who achieved riches by climbing the bodies of the unfortunate below. This man was also a coward who fled when his fellow fighter required his aid. Just one of those reasons was enough to warrant his special brand of justice, and this time he was no longer at leisure to drag things on. "Die with the rest of the pack."

The moon revealed herself when his Gatotsu Ishiki impaled the running man through his back, catching his opponent in mid step just before he passed the front of the shop's threshold. The silver of the moonlight mingled with pale candlelight as the shop door opened.

Saitou turned to face the shocked shop owner. "Just the police doing their duties, sir."

And it would seem that he wouldn't be getting that soba after all.

-------------

A half hour later, hidden within the forgotten shadows beneath a withering sakura tree, a cloaked man watched as the alleyway filled with policemen like ants all over carrion. They milled about the six corpses with an eagerness that was revolting pertaining to the circumstances. His arrival to the scene was prompt, at only a few minutes past eleven, but already the location of the fight was congested with too many people for him to inspect the bodies himself. Watching only for a few minutes more allowed him to learn all he was required to of the matter. He gathered his cloak about himself and left, disappearing just as silently and unnoticed as he had appeared.

Endnotes-

Not much here this time. Just clarifying a word or two just in case people aren't familiar with the language.

Gatotsu Ishiki – Saitou's Gatotsu (Fang Thrust), the first stance. In the series, Saitou demonstrated four stances for his Gatotsu, Ishiki, Nishiki, Sanshiki, and the Zeroshiki, his first, second, third, and zero stances.

sakura – cherry tree.