"And the sky was made of amethyst
All the stars were just like little fish
You should learn when to go
You should learn how to say no
My life's a dare
Mine is forever."
--Hole, "Violet"

Chapter 4

It was a clear night. The stars in the sky twinkled as soothingly as the fireflies drifting through the garden. A cool breeze rustled the brightly colored autumn leaves, now dulled to shades of gray and silver by the light of the full moon. This was the sort of night I would normally have enjoyed: sitting out, drinking sake with friends... even if that friend were Kano commenting loudly and continuously about how nice the silence was. I should have been appreciating the warm glow of the lanterns shining through the inn's rice-paper windows.

Instead, I was pacing in the entranceway, irritably cursing how bright the moon was. Praying for clouds to darken our roads. Adjusting my daisho. Hoping our charge would choke on the sake that the idiot was drinking right before our run. Worrying once more about Kenshin.

"Kuso," I swore, nearly tripping over one of the damn cats that recently had overrun the place. God only knew why. There couldn't be that many mice... And who the hell would be feeding them?

I was distracted from my random, irritable grumbling by the loud complaining of our charge as he entered the room. Kenshin followed silently behind, ignoring the insults that were clearly directed toward him. The only outward sign of annoyance was the slight brush of his fingers across the tsuka of his wakizashi. I wasn't sure if he were considering decapitating our charge, or committing seppuku. I was genuinely hoping for the former, to be honest. The thought cheered me up, and I couldn't help the beginnings of a small smile just as Kenshin lifted his head, and, for a brief moment, his eyes met mine. He sighed softly, fingers twitching again to his sword, as a new round of obscenities were now directed in my general direction.

I cocked an eyebrow at Battousai, but said nothing, amused. Only a day before, I had thought the kid no longer could express anything, but I was wrong. Just in the short time I'd spent with him, I'd begun realizing that with very few words and almost imperceptible gestures, Kenshin said far more than even Kano ever had.

"How long are we just going to stand here?" Toriyama snapped, swaying slightly and glaring at me. "The longer we wait, the more time we give the Mibu-ro to prepare."

"The Shinsengumi will already be out," Kenshin replied shortly, brushing by Toriyama as though he weren't even there.

I nodded, adding, "The wolves are Kyoto's front line. Do you really think day or night makes any difference to them?" Obviously the alcohol was already killing his mental faculties. Or perhaps the baka was really that stupid. Probably both. I sighed, annoyed with my bad mood. We just needed to end this thing before I got as bad as Kano...

I turned away from Toriyama, letting him work that one out as Kenshin extinguished the lanterns, darkening the room, and making it more difficult for the opening of the door to be noticed from the street. No point in drawing undue attention to our base. Or to Okami...

When Kenshin was finally done, I led us to the door, but paused before opening it. Firmly, I stated to the onerous man, "Follow our lead at all times. If there is trouble, leave the fighting to Battousai-san, and the defense to me." Like there were any worries of Toriyama trying to play the hero. I added my more realistic concern. "And no matter what happens, trust in us. Do not run."

"I'm no coward," he blustered.

"I would suggest you listen," Kenshin interrupted politely in a voice that cut like steel. "We will waste no time repeating." He paused, then added, "And I won't chase you if you do choose to run. You will be on your own."

Toriyama fell silent, his apparent courage bleeding out of him as Kenshin gently cut him down to size.

I smirked in the darkness. Good for you, kid.

Briefly, I outlined the plan, stressing the need for both silence and speed. When I was certain that our plans were understood and uncompromisable, I opened the door and slipped outside. This was not a busy district even in good times. With the war going on, the streets emptied before dark. Okami had chosen her site well.

We carefully stayed to edge of the street, running alleys often, staying within shadows whenever possible. I listened carefully for any irregular sounds; watched for shadows that should not exist. I left the ki sensing to Kenshin. He was more sensitive than me, and anyway, I had to focus on our fat friend, making sure he didn't lag behind or wheeze too loudly.

We had reached the outskirts, almost halfway to our goal, when I heard the footsteps. I was ready to motion to Kenshin, but he had already sensed them, and was also moving to hide us, quickly backing us into a narrow alleyway, effectively concealing us in the shadows. We waited expectantly. We didn't have to wait long. Within seconds, we could see the unit slip by. I only hoped they wouldn't investigate our ki, though more likely they would assume a solider or samurai was drinking at the run-down sake house we were pressed against.

The rest of what must have been the tenth unit passed. After waiting another few minutes until we could no longer hear their footsteps, I moved to follow Kenshin back to the road, grateful that the wolves had taken the direction opposite ours.

Kenshin, however, hadn't budged, silently raising his arm in a signal to stop. I responded quickly, listening. Was the unit returning to investigate our ki after all? I listened, but could hear nothing apart from the steady chirping of crickets in the distance, undisturbed by our insignificant war.

Tentatively, I approached Battousai, stopping a hair behind him. From there, I could see his profile. His brows were drawn together in puzzlement. Something was bothering him. Not exactly a comforting thought.

"Battousai-san," I hissed, hoping to snap him out of whatever it was he was contemplating.

He didn't move. Didn't even acknowledge me.

Was this the freeze that Katsura had worried about? This wasn't good. It was one thing to be cautious, but too much hesitation could be just as deadly as haste. I mentally flinched, pushing the rest of Katsura's conversation out of my mind. Focusing only on one small part. Protect Battousai. Was I going to have to order Kenshin back to defense? That left me as the front line. That was a joke...

I was weighing my options, even as I whispered, trying to give the kid one more chance, "Battousai-san, they're gone. It's clear. We need to move now before they return, or another unit passes by."

No response. He had frozen. Great. I hate being lead.

I took a deep breath. "Move," I ordered, my muted voice sharper than it should have been. "Move, or fall back to defense. Now."

"That wasn't the tenth unit," he replied, finally, as though I hadn't spoken.

"What?" I stiffened in surprise by this sudden revelation. How could he tell that from back here? There was no way...

Toriyama moaned softly behind us, earning a deadly glare from Kenshin. Brilliant move. It only made the ahou even more terrified. He'd probably wet himself now. As it was, his whimpering became even more pronounced.

"Shut up," I hissed at him before turning back to Kenshin. I had to get us moving. This was taking too long. Each moment we wasted could cost us our lives. "You can't know that, Battousai-san. None of us could see them clearly enough from here."

He glanced at me, a strange look in his eyes. "What did you get from their ki?" he asked.

"Nothing," I replied, exasperated. "Battousai-san, there was nothing. No anger, no acknowledgement. They didn't sense us. They didn't respond. They were fine."

Kenshin twitched. "Exactly."

I was going to hit him soon. I considered telling him that.

"Ushiro-san," he whispered, too quietly for our quivering charge to hear, "Harada has a temper. He has a very distinct, clear ki. He would not have been 'fine'. It wasn't the tenth unit. They changed their pattern." That puzzled look again, like he was trying to figure out why.

"Maybe you're wrong," I hissed. "And either way, what difference can it make now? Like it or not, you have no choice but to move." I swallowed. "That is an order. You're our sword. Move."

"Of course." His head dipped briefly, politely. His voice was bitter ice.

As soon as the words had left my mouth, I regretted them. He wasn't just a weapon to me. Why the hell did I say that?

Because I knew it would work. Because I'd heard Katsura say it. Seen Iizuka get away with it. Call Kenshin a sword and he becomes one. He does his job. Lets you use him. Soulless metal.

Dammit!

"Battousai-san, I didn't mean--"

"Forget it. Of course I have been wrong before." Polite, dead voice... No, not quite dead. There was something very off with his voice this time. I didn't think wanted to know what he had been wrong about in the past...

"You're right, Ushiro-san, we should move," he continued, coldly. "I'll fall to defense. You lead."

Shit.

I didn't have time to fix this. We had to get moving. But I mentally kicked myself, demanding that I make it up to him after we were out of this mess.

I hesitated, worrying about a more immediate concern. "If I need you...?"

"As you said, I am your sword. Wield me."

I ground my teeth at his response, knowing that the worst part was that he wasn't mocking me. He was serious. I don't think I've ever been as angry at myself as I was then. "Fine. Follow me. We keep to the original plan."

Kenshin nodded.

I glanced behind us again at the massively frustrating, and whimpering, reason that we were stuck here in the first place. Ironic that I'd almost forgotten about him during our ridiculously long talk.

Carefully we edged back out into the moonlight. Unfortunately there was almost no way to avoid it. We had been too long in the alleyway. The moon had moved too far overhead to create any more shadows big enough to obscure us... or at least one of us. This was what I'd been afraid of.

As we moved quickly, almost silently, I assessed our situation. We were almost halfway to our goal. We were at the outskirts, but on the wrong side of Kyoto. We needed to move almost a quarter of the way around the city before we would hit the bridges we needed. It was true that the Shinsengumi didn't patrol this area heavily, since we had no reason to run this direction, but we had already seen one unit, and we would run into more the nearer we got to the bridges. The tenth shouldn't be a problem for at least another ten to twenty minutes, depending on how close they wound up cutting around and coming back. The second might come around this way, but it was unlikely. We had a chance, though it was slim. We really had lost too much time...

Our second problem... I was now lead. I hadn't completely lied to Kenshin earlier. I'm a decent fighter, and I can hold my own against even a unit leader, as long as the rest of the unit is occupied. As long as it's someone like Harada whose ki apparently made him an open book, or Nagakura, who was a talented swordsman, but predictable, I'd be okay... probably. And according to Kenshin, Okita and Saito didn't run this route. He was right in saying that that would be a death sentence for us. Well, for me and our wheezing charge at least...

My thoughts were interrupted by the sharp gasp behind me. My first assumption was that Toriyama was losing air from waddling so fast. But the sound had been too near. I glanced back. Kenshin had frozen again. I couldn't take much more of this...

"Battousai-san..."

His amber eyes narrowed, but not at me. "On the offensive. They're here."

"What? The tenth?" How did they get here so fast?

"Not Harada..." He motioned with his head, eyes hard. Fluidly shifting to his battou-jutsu stance.

I turned back, following Kenshin's piercing stare. Rounding the corner was the unit, its leader at the head, smiling coldly. The smile not reaching his eyes. A second unit came out of the shadows to our side.

They advanced slowly, obviously not surprised. They must have been expecting us. How the hell had they known we'd be here?

I tensed, hand against my own katana. Ready to lead. To die. Kenshin moved himself in position for defense. Definitely not freezing. Katsura had been wrong. His sword was still intact. Still gleaming, I expected.

I didn't have time to feel any joy at this discovery.

Okita and Saito were moving in.

Author's Note: Wow! It's been awhile since I've had two back-to-back updates on ANY fic! Very exciting (for me at least). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. A big thank you to Shirou Shinjin, sueb262, and lolo popoki for their invaluable beta work! And a big thanks to my readers. I appreciate you taking the time to read this chapter. And by the way, please review. I'm a review junkie!

Dewa mata!

Sirius