Haha, everyone seems a bit irked at Kenshin for not protecting Kaoru after her father died. I might point out that Kamiya-sama said "When you get back" "I have a daughter" and "promise." He never quite told Kenshin he wanted Kenshin to be her bodyguard. There are other reasons why Kenshin didn't immediately take Kaoru under his protection, not the least of which the guilt he feels at Koshijirō's death, but they're explained in a later chapter. The reason why the Syndicate managed to snatch Kaoru is also suggested. Hang tight till then, okay?

This chapter's playlist

Fear By:See-saw //SIGN OST Vol. 1-

Encounter By: Kawamori Keiji -Final Fantasy VII Advent Children OST-

Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata - Adagio By: Jenö Jandó -A to Z of Classical Music-

Sing For Absolution By: Muse -Absolution-

Gothic Sandy By: Mazedude -ocremix .org-


CITIZEN SOLDIERS



CHAPTER FOUR:: CURIOSITY

"There is a pre-Cataclysm saying: Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts

absolutely. I believe the Syndicate is the most fitting, and the most painful,

example of this. And it is fallen to us to prevent the corruption

from destroying the City from the inside out."

--Katsura Kogorō, after his promotion to

vice-commander of the Shishi



As it turned out, Kenshin was able to both acquire permission to question Tae and visit her in the time he had before he needed to report to the Shishi headquarters. He had gone first to the Sekihōtai base in the bowels of the Black Roof District, and been told that the leader, Sagara Sōzō, was at the Akabeko.

Kenshin stepped into the restaurant by way of the front entrance- not his usual path- and paused by the door, scanning the dining area with sharp eyes. He knew what Sagara-taichō looked like, and easily picked him out of the small crowd. The red-haired assassin made his way toward the Sekihōtai leader, absently noting that his progress was followed surreptitiously by several pairs of eyes. As Kenshin drew even nearer to Sagara-taichō he also picked up a shadow- a tall shadow possessing the lanky, wildcat grace of a street-fighter.

Kenshin stopped a few feet away from Sōzō, and bowed calmly. "Sagara-sama. Might I have a word with you?"

The Sekihōtai captain regarded him with clever brown eyes. His hand, resting on his knee, gave a small flick of the fingers… and Kenshin's watchers turned their attention away from the red-headed interloper.

"Himura Kenshin, isn't it? Katsura-sama's prodigy?" asked Sagara in a light voice. Like Katsura, he exuded confidence and that unique charisma that called loyal men to him like moths to a lamp.

"I don't know about prodigy," Kenshin replied easily, aware that his shadow was still lurking behind him, "but Katsura-sama does hold my allegiance."

Sagara smiled at him, and gestured for him to sit at the low table. Kenshin did so, as Sagara said: "There is nothing to worry about, Sanosuke, but if you are so concerned, you may join us if Himura-san has no objections."

Kenshin looked toward the man Sagara addressed, his erstwhile shadow. His first assessment had been correct. This Sanosuke was tall- at least a head and shoulders taller than Kenshin, though he didn't seem any older than the redhead- and he had the build of a fist-fighter as well as the wrapped knuckles. Kenshin met Sanosuke's dark eyes with his own amber ones. "I have no objections."

"Hn," Sanosuke snorted, his hands tucked behind his head and a fishbone clenched between his teeth. "I don't need your permission to guard my captain."

"Sano…" sighed Sagara.

Kenshin, instead of becoming irritated by the brash fighter, found his lips quirking in a small smile. Perhaps it was because Sagara Sōzō reminded him so much of Katsura, and he was glad to see he had such a stalwart subordinate… "No, of course not. But it was still polite of Sagara-sama to ask, and I appreciate that."

He inclined his head to the Sekihōtai's leader, who nodded back.

"What would you speak to me of, Himura-san?" asked Sōzō, after a cup of tea had been hastily poured for Kenshin and other pleasantries had been disposed of.

"I humbly request your permission to question Sekihara Tae on certain non-hostile topics," Kenshin responded, placing his fists on the floor and bowing a few degrees forward. Sagara rocked back slightly, and Sanosuke made an exclamation.

"Might you be able to elaborate on these 'non-hostile topics'?" Sōzō inquired. Kenshin looked up.

"I wish to inquire as to the where-abouts of a certain person."

"Hmm…" Sagara said, his eyes raking Kenshin's face. "Well, then…"

Keshin waited. He was not let down.

"Very well," Sagara said at length, picking up his own tea.

"What?" sputtered Sanosuke. "Sagara-taichō!"

"We owe at least this small favour to our Shishi brothers," Sagara told his soldier. Kenshin could see Sanosuke grit his teeth before the fist-fighter turned his brown eyes to the redhead.

"If you upset Tae-san in any way, I'll break your face," he growled, displaying his clearly protective nature.

"I'm not planning on causing Tae-san any distress," Kenshin assured him.

"Hmph. You can't fool me. I know you're Hitokiri Battōsai! Do you really care if you upset her?"

Kenshin felt his eyes lighten to bright gold and he graced Sanosuke with a small cold smile. "I have been called that, but I am hardly as merciless as they make me out to be. Tae-san has been kind to me, and I do not wish to reciprocate with pain, be it physical or emotional."

The chilly yellow look clearly unsettled Sanosuke, but he merely shifted uncomfortably and didn't let up with his warning glare. Points in his favour. Kenshin glanced at Sagara, who looked mildly horrified and rather vexed at his subordinate's behaviour.

"Your soldier has a good heart and a strong will," Kenshin told him. Sagara acknowledged the compliment, but said in exasperation:

"He is also my adoptive son. I tried to raise him to be polite as well as honourable, but it hasn't seemed to stick."

Kenshin glanced between the two. Sōzō could not have been more than twelve years older than Sanosuke. Sōzō saw the glance and understood its meaning. He smiled. "To be fair, our relationship is most often like brothers, but I more or less raised him from childhood, thus 'father' and 'son'."

"Ah," Kenshin replied, not knowing what else to say. He felt a slight twinge of jealousy for Sanosuke. His own family had died when he was very small, and he was currently estranged from the man who had raised him in his own childhood…

'This is not the time to dwell on such a thing,' he berated himself. He bowed to Sōzō and Sanosuke once more and then stood.

"I thank you for your assistance, Sagara-sama. I have to take my leave now; I'm on a tight schedule."

"It was no trouble, Himura-san. Please give my regards to Katsura-sama," the Sekihōtai captain replied. One more bow, and Kenshin disappeared into the kitchen to seek Tae.


The intrepid restaurant owner was rattling off orders like a drill sergeant, making her kitchen staff twist their faces into grimaces of varying magnitude. Tae clapped her hands once.

"Come on, now, everyone! We have a full house and a stack of orders! Lets get moving!" she watched her employees explode into frantic motion with her hands on her hips.

"Tae-san," Kenshin said, coming up beside her. She turned with a smile on her face.

"Good afternoon Himura-san! How are you?"

"I am well, thank you. Could you spare a moment? I'd like to talk to you…" Kenshin said politely. Tae's gaze focused, sharpened, and the smile faded a bit. But nonetheless, she responded in the affirmative, and led Kenshin to her office.

"Please, sit," she said when they were both in the small room. "Can I offer you tea?"

"No, thank you," he replied solemnly as he sat. Tae faltered a moment; Kenshin wondered how much it threw her to not be serving someone something, when she'd made her life's work to be just that. Presently she sat, her smile entirely gone by now.

"What can I help you with, Himura-san?" she asked in equal solemnity.

"I am… curious…" Kenshin began slowly. "I overheard something in your restaurant yesterday and it has stuck with me. I find myself needing to know… Do you know of some one who had Vanished but has now reappeared?"

Tae reared back slightly, her eyes widening. "Oh. Oh, you overheard Yahiko…"

She fell silent, staring at her desk. Kenshin could see that she was thinking, and waited. After a while, she responded: "Yes, I do know some one like that. I grew up with another girl my age. We were sisters in all but blood. She and her husband were staunch supporters of the rebellion, and it got them killed. Their deaths left my godchild alone at the age of ten. She was supposed to come live with me, but before I could collect her, she disappeared."

Tae paused to draw breath. Her hands were clenched together on the top of her desk. Her knuckles were turning red and white with the strength of her grip. "I had the Sekihōtai search for her, but they couldn't turn up anything. Not even her documents in the Syndic system. It was as if she had never existed. I did all I could to look for her… but after four years of no luck, I was growing discouraged. And then, out of the blue, Yahiko comes in shouting that he'd found her."

Kenshin leaned forward and, before Tae slipped further into the memory, asked: "Her records were not in the Syndic system?"

Tae blinked, and her eyes refocused on him. "No. At least, none of the hackers I hired could find them."

"How many hackers? And which ones?"

"Well, Yahiko is a talented hacker in his own right…" Tae started, and Kenshin held up a hand.

"Forgive the interruption, but quickly- Who is Yahiko?"

"Oh! Myōjin Yahiko. He was my goddaughter's childhood friend, and an orphan who had been taken in by the Sekihōtai when his father died," Tae said.

"His father had been a member?" Kenshin asked, and Tae nodded. "Alright. Sorry, please continue. The hackers?"

"Well, as I said, Yahiko tried. Then I asked the other Sekihōtai hackers to try, and finally I contacted a couple freelance rebel hackers. I believe their names were Sawagejō Chō and Tsukuyama Yūtarō'. In any case, nobody was able to locate my goddaughter's records."

'Perhaps they were erased… but why? And by whom? I would assume the Syndicate, but an outside hacker could do it, too. If it had been the Syndicate, what would they gain from erasing, essentially, the girl's existence? The same question applies to outside hackers. Why? Well, it would possibly keep the girl under the Syndicate's radar; they can't keep tabs on some one who doesn't exist. But if that was the case, why did she not contact Tae and warn her?'

"Tae-san," he said absently. "Where was your goddaughter found?"

"Yahiko said he saw her in a noodle stand in the Silk Market District," Tae responded. "It was a small place on Showa. He nearly ran into her as he left the shop and she entered. He said she recognized him but pretended not to. And she was in the company of another girl, though Yahiko couldn't remember anything about her."

"I see," Kenshin murmured. "Could I speak with Yahiko at some point?"

"Of course," Tae replied. Then she hesitated. "What… what did you plan to do with this information?"

"I'm not sure," Kenshin admitted. "I was mostly interested in it because of the suggestion that Vanished people can reappear on the streets. I wanted to know the circumstances of their returns. Perhaps we can speak to those who have returned, and learn how to save more of the Vanished."

"Ah," Tae said. "Himura-san can I… can I ask you a favour?"

Kenshin tilted his head inquiringly at her. She studiously avoided direct eye contact and whispered: "If you… see my goddaughter, could you tell her… that we never gave up on her?"

"Yes," Kenshin replied gravely. He rose and bowed. "Thank you, Tae-san, for your time and your confidence. I appreciate all you have told me."

"Your welcome," she replied. "And thank you."

Kenshin turned to leave, and then asked, over his shoulder: "What is your goddaughter's name?"

"Sanjō Tsubame."

Kenshin nodded and left.


"It would seem you disobeyed my orders, Kenshin-kun," said Katsura, his tone deceptively light. Kenshin could see the disapproval in his boss's eyes when the older man glanced up from his paperwork. Kenshin should have known Katsura would find out about his little outing; Shishi spies were stationed in almost every District, and they would have noticed him.

"Respectfully, sir, I did not. Your orders were to not engage in any Shishi related activities. I did not." Kenshin replied stiffly. Katsura bent a Look upon him.

"My agents told me they noticed your presence in the University District. Visiting some of your usual informants. This wasn't about Shishi business?"

"No, sir."

Katsura swept Kenshin's face with his too-sharp eyes. One eyebrow lifted. "I see… Then, whatever the reason you went to them, was it possible for it to become Shishi business?"

Kenshin couldn't help the flash of chagrin that showed briefly in his face. "…Yes sir. There was that possibility."

"You are worse than every teenage son in this City combined," muttered Katsura. "Because you were trained to be sneaky and subtle."

Then louder, he said: "You can give me a report on what you found when next you are on duty. Which will not be tonight. I want you to take tonight off… for real, this time. You need a break, whether or not you think so, and I will personally stuff you in a closet bound and gagged if that's what it takes."

Face impassive, Kenshin took in the ridiculous admonishment stoically. He knew Katsura well enough to understand that when he became that informal, he really meant what he was saying. Not literally, of course, but if he threatened to do something as silly as locking Kenshin in a closet, he really meantthat he wanted Kenshin to take some time off.

"I will follow your orders completely this time, Katsura-sama. And I apologize form my insubordination yesterday," the redhead said. Katsura arched an eyebrow and picked up his pen again.

"Just make sure that next time you remember that I mean for both the letter and the spirit of my orders to be followed. Dismissed."

Kenshin bowed and left.


Kaoru, crouched on the parapet of what had once been a church, hugged her knees and shivered slightly. She wasn't physically cold, because thanks to the SAM-C the City was kept at a constant comfortable temperature, but she couldn't help the tremor. Not when she was on target.

And not this target…

Kaoru had killed women before; the ranks of the rebels were only slightly tipped in the favour of males. About forty percent of the rebels were women… but young women. The general age for female rebels was around twenty to twenty-eight. They weren't married, or hadn't been married long. They had no children.

Again, not this target…

'Oh-one-twenty-three hours and… fifty-eight seconds. Almost showtime,' Kaoru thought with morbid humour. According to her briefing, her target left her work at the same time every night.

'Which makes it easy for me… but I wish she would have not made herself such an easy target. I don't want to kill this woman.'

Kaoru squeezed her eyes shut a moment and then opened them to glance toward the building from which her target would emerge in… she checked her watch… two-point-oh-eight seconds. Ah, there she was. Right on time, as reported.

The woman was slender, and tall, with a head of perfectly coiffed blonde hair. The honey-coloured locks shone in the bright streetlights of the district, and Kaoru felt a pang of regret, that the pretty strands would soon be dulled in death.

'Baka.' she growled at herself. 'That pretty head of hair will be nothing but ash once the 'cleaners' get through with it.'

Her target was walking at a pretty good clip, so Kaoru sped herself forward to catch up. She remained on the roofs, jumping from building to building as the target proceeded through the streets. She was fortunate that the District was one of those whose buildings were all about the same size; it facilitated roof-jumping, but it also ensured that nobody would glance out their window and see her running around on the roofs below them.

The district was one of the more affluent ones; in fact, it was where many of the companies comprising the Syndicate had their offices. As such, it had relatively abundant streetlights, and police cruisers made rounds at night. Kaoru knew the cops' patrol routes, and knew that her target lived in an adjacent, poorer district… one without police and streetlights. She would follow the target there, and strike then.

She kept pace with the blonde woman, looking down on her from several stories up, noticing small details as she had been trained.

The woman walked quickly, with purpose, and she kept her head on a swivel. Alert, and watching for any threats. One of her hands stayed buried in her purse. Did she have a weapon hidden there?

'Don't let her see you,' Kaoru thought to herself. 'Just drop down there, slit her throat, and leave. Drop, slit, leave. Don't think about it beyond that.'

They were drawing closer to the border of the neighboring district; Kaoru could tell because the number and quality of the streetlights were waning. She started running closer to street level- instead of on the roofs, she was on the fire-escapes.

'Drop-slit-leave. Drop-slit-leave. There!' The street ahead was dark and empty. The nearest streetlight was a block away, its dull glow barely enough to gild things with an orange edge.

Kaoru jumped to the street silently, right behind the woman. Almost as silently, she drew her wakizashi from its saya. Unfortunately, the slight whisper of metal was enough to alert the blonde woman. She started to turn, her hand coming out of her purse.

'IdontTHINKso!' sped across Kaoru's mind, and she ducked under the woman's arm.

Striking simultaneously, Kaoru's free hand went out… open-palm strike, and whatever was in the woman's hand went clattering away… and a swift jerk of the sword arm… her blade flashed, once.

The woman was only half-turned, but her momentum was enough that her body twisted all the way around as it collapsed. Kaoru caught a glimpse of wide, surprised eyes that were aware… and then suddenly not. Blood glistened black on the woman's chest and neck, and when her lips parted slightly to expel her last breath, blood dribbled over them, too.

Kaoru stood over the body, somewhat frozen in place. There was some slight shock as she tried to process the events that had just occurred; it had happened so quickly, she hadn't quite had time to think... Her training had taken over before she could realize it… and now the woman was dead. Just like that.

'Don't linger…' that training said now. But she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the cooling body.

The woman's hands were slender and graceful. On the left one, a wedding band glinted with an orange spark from the distant streetlight. Kaoru's hitokiri-sharp eyes could pick out the folds in her dress-suit, and the small ridge where the skirt had been torn and carefully mended. On the poorer side of the population, but proud enough to take care of her appearance, analyzed Kaoru's mind.

An old, battered Taser lay on the ground where it had fallen after Kaoru had knocked it from the woman's hand.

A cautious woman as well, then, for all that she was foolish (or brave, whispered Kaoru's mind) enough to play spy for the rebellion. Cautious, at least, in the threat of one form of attack. A Taser would fell an average mugger, but it would do nothing against Syndicate trooper armour (or a skilled assassin…). Perhaps she hadn't believed the Syndics would kill her for her crime. Perhaps she was one of those who believed the Syndicate, while oppressive, would play by the rules and arrest her first. Naïve… Why would they?

Kaoru felt her lip tremble slightly as she continued to stare at the body. 'Why? Why would you risk this?'

She would never know; Sensei wouldn't tell her, not if it wasn't necessary information for the completion of the mission, and the woman wouldn't be telling anyone anything ever again. But she could guess. Someone the woman loved had been killed by the Syndicate. Or perhaps her husband was a covert rebel. Or even just that the woman resented the Syndicate rule of the City. But still…

'You had a child! Why did you risk everything to spy on just one mid-level company?!' Kaoru wanted to scream at the woman. 'Your actions killed you, and him!'

She really only knew that the woman had had a child because Sensei had wanted to give her both missions- kill the mother and the son. Likely it would have been yet another attempt to break Kaoru's spirit, in the hope that killing a child would shatter her where killing adults had not. But the higher-ups had ordered Sensei to give the easier target to one of their newer hitokiri. So Kaoru got the mother.

Against her will, her imagination conjured up how it would have felt to have assassinated a five-year-old child.

'Oh… God…' she thought in a sob. 'No…'

Kaoru tightened her jaw and her hands curled into fists at her sides. A part of her noted that the cleaners would come soon, and that she should leave. But she couldn't seem to find the will to move.

…Was it just the dim lighting, or was the honey-gold hair, splayed across the concrete, already dulled?

Had her child the same bright, beautiful locks? Were they, too, dulled and tipped in dark blood?

Kaoru made a small, distressed noise in the back of her throat and fell to her hands and knees, retching. When she was finished, she sat back on her haunches, wiping her mouth on the shoulder of her uniform.

'I threw up,' she thought. There was relief mixed in with the surprise. 'I threw up. I'd told Tsubame I was afraid I was losing myself, because I didn't throw up after missions anymore. But… I threw up…'

Kaoru was trembling now, eyes pricking with tears. Maybe… maybe she wasn't so far gone. Did murderers vomit after killing?

"Thank you," she whispered to the body in front of her. She was well aware of the perversity of the words, in that situation. She killed the woman, and then thanked her? But Kaoru felt that something precious to her had been returned, and it had been the compassion and grief evoked by the woman's death that had done it. So. "I am indebted to you. And I am sorry."

She closed her eyes for a heartbeat. 'I really should leave now. The cleaners will come any second, and… even they aren't allowed to know who we are.'

Her eyes opened, and solemnly she bowed to the body lying before her. Finally, she turned away and disappeared into the dark City.


TERMS

Shishi-- "men of high purpose." A term used to describe Japanese political activists of the late Edo period. While it is usually applied to the anti-shogunate, pro-sonnō jōi ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian[s]") samurai primarily from the southwestern clans of Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa, the term "shishi" is also used by some with reference to supporters of the shogunate who held similar sonnō jōi views. This is the historical info on them, but it's not necessarily how I use the term in this fic.

Sekihōtai— this was a group of Japanese political extremists (allied with the Ishin Shishi) in the Bakumatsu, the Japanese civil war in the 1860's. They were shafted by the Meiji government and denounced. Members from the First Unit were arrested and executed. This is the historical info; I have taken liberties with the group in this fic.

taichō— commanding officer. This has been translated to mean a variety of ranks, including 'commander' 'captain' and 'general.'

Hitokiri—assassin.

Battōsai— a compounding of Battō which means 'sword drawing' and refers to the martial art of Battōjutsu (a technique which requires unsheathing and striking with a sword in one fluid motion) and the suffix –sai which is added to pen names or professional working names.

Baka—idiot.

wakizaki-- a traditional Japanese sword with a blade between 30 and 60 cm (12 and 24 inches), with an average of 50 cm (20 inches). Worn with the longer katana, it is one of the two swords comprising the samurai daishō.

sayasheath.