Ch. 7
Shinomori Aoshi. A tall man with short black hair and blue eyes. An intimidating man who had become okashira even before the age of 13. Touya felt respect towards the man sitting before him.
"Tell me the truth," Aoshi demanded, eying what to him seemed like a foreign teen with odd choice of hair color. "Why did you decide to join us?"
"The oniwabanshû has always been important in my life," Touya answered. "I myself was part of it for some time… I cannot fight against you."
"And how about your friends," Aoshi asked suspiciously. "Can you fight against them?" Touya thought it over for a while, pondering over every soul at the Kamiya dojo. Then he nodded.
"Everyone except Hiei… he has nothing to do with this fight," the ex- ice demon answered. Aoshi glanced at Han'nya, the man with the devil's mask, who nodded.
"You have chosen a powerful ally," the okashira commented.
"And a powerful enemy," Touya noted. "The rurouni, Himura Kenshin, is no ordinary swordsman." Aoshi raised an eyebrow and motioned for Touya to continue.
- - -
"I think you owe us some explanations," Kaoru told Megumi after Kenshin and Sanosuke were done scanning the area for more intruders. Megumi only snorted and looked away.
"Talk!" Sano shouted at her, loosing his patience. Kenshin placed a calming hand on the teen's shoulder.
"Magumi-dono… you cannot hide forever," the redhead said. "Why not break the silence and tell us the true story?" Hiei merely sent them an uninterested look. Everyone had something in their lives they wished to hide, some more than others.
Finally Megumi gave in and told them her story. She told them that she was from a family of doctors in Aizu, and that she had studied medicine from a young age.
Then, at the Aizu war, her father had died and her mother and brothers had gone missing. After that she had become an assistant to a doctor working with Kanryû.
"Kanryû obtained raw opium ingredients for very little, and after processing the doctor would sell it back," Megumi told the inhabitants of the dojo. "Until the doctor created the "spider's web". It's like ordinary opium, but better processed meaning four times the profit. In five years all of Tokyo could be addicted.
"Kanryû wanted to mass-produce, so he tried to get the recipe from the doctor. But the doctor wouldn't tell. He wanted the profits for himself. They fought, and Kanryû accidentally killed him.
"So I, the loyal assistant, was forced to work for Kanryû. I thought I was making medicine to help people. When I heard the truth I wanted to die… but I couldn't. I was hoping… that if I worked as a doctor… I could some day reunite with my missing family… And so, for three years, I've sent people to their deaths…"
Silence settled over the Kamiya dojo when Megumi finished her story. The black haired woman was crying, truly upset about what she had been forced to do.
"But you never revealed the method to make the "spider's web" to Kanryû, have you?" Kenshin asked. His expression was soft as he looked at the crying woman.
"No… So?" Megumi wondered, drying her tears.
"To minimize the production, and the victims, you carry the guilt all alone," Kenshin answered, his expression never changing. "For three years you've suffered. Maybe it's time you were forgiven, and freed. We'll deal with Kanryû and the others." The redheaded swordsman stood up, ready to leave when a deep voice called out to him.
"Do you count Touya as one of 'the others', rurouni," Hiei asked. Everyone paused at the question. Was Touya their enemy? "You do realize that he had no choice, considering where he comes from…"
Kenshin felt a knot in his stomach. Was Hiei… protecting Touya?
"That depends on Touya…" the rurouni said slowly. "If he chooses to fight or if he'd rather stay on the side of it all, like you, Hiei-dono…" Kenshin caught the red eyes within his gaze and smiled. Hiei nodded, showing that he approved to the answer and finally everyone in the dojo started to prepare for the oncoming night.
- - -
(Centuries later)
Dozens of books about the Meiji era's history lay spread out on a table in the Spirit world library, yet none of them seemed to hold the information the four friends were seeking for.
"It says here that 'the rurouni Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the Hitokiri Battôsai, fought against Udô Jin-E, also known as Kurogasa, to save a friend who later became very important for the ex-hitokiri'," Kurama read out loud from a book. "But it doesn't mention anything about who this friend was." Yusuke sighed and slammed close the book he'd been reading from.
"There are no markings what so ever showing that Hiei and Touya are in the Meiji," the raven-haired teen said and leaned back in his chair.
"At least Koenma told us where to start looking…" Kurama murmured, loud enough for the others to hear while reaching out for yet another book.
"Guys…"
"Doesn't do much good when those two aren't mentioned even once in these books," Yusuke huffed irritably.
"Guys…!" Kuwabara repeated, a bit louder this time, finally attracting the two teens' attentions. Jin was already leaning over the orange-haired teen's shoulder, reading the page Kuwabara had found.
"Listen to this," the human said and started reading. "'It was said that towards the end of the fight the mysterious black-haired guest at the Kamiya Kasshin-ryû dojo was shot. Only minutes later the police arrived, but found no one except for the injured swordsman and his friend, a blue-haired former member of the oniwabanshû, also a guest staying at the dojo…'"
"So what happened?" Yusuke urged.
"It doesn't say," Kuwabara answered. "They only start talking about this Himura Kenshin again." After hearing this Yusuke all but ripped the book out of his friend's hands, but no matter how much he searched, no more information was written about the two "guests".
"I can't believe this!" the raven-haired teen shouted and slammed the book onto the table.
"I'm thinkin' we should have a talk with Koenma," Jin spoke up.
- - -
A week went by at the Kamiya dojo without Kanryû or the oniwabanshû making a move. Over that time Megumi seemed to get over a part of her depression and became livelier. She still kept on flirting with Kenshin, even though the redhead made it quite clear that he wasn't interested. This had awoken Yahiko's interest, and he was set on finding out who it was that Kenshin really liked. Hiei had pretty much stayed out of the way, except for an occasional training session with the rurouni.
It was after dinner, and the ex-demon was sitting in his tree, seemingly asleep. Below him sat Megumi who was washing the dishes, not that she knew he was up there… There was a nice, calm silence over the dojo, only broken by an occasional shout from where Kaoru was teaching Yahiko swordsmanship.
Suddenly the gate opened and a tall man carrying a box on his back entered. The man spoke directly to Megumi, presenting himself as the book lender. He probably didn't even notice Hiei sitting in the tree.
The man and Megumi talked for a while and the book lender bowed down to take something from the box he'd set on the ground. When he straightened again there was a devils mask covering his face. Hiei recognized him as one of the oniwabanshû.
Before Megumi had the time to scream for help a hand was placed on her mouth. Hiei didn't move, but was ready to take action if needed.
"Takeda Kanryû wishes to talk to you. Only talk. He will not force you back," Hiei heard the shinobi say, and Megumi was lead away from the dojo. Hiei waited a few moments before following as soundlessly as demonly possible. It wasn't that far, in a small forest that Kanryû stood and waited.
As soon as Megumi and the masked shinobi had entered the woods, Hiei had jumped up in a tree and followed them from branch to branch. He may not have access o his ki, but the ex- fire demon was still as agile as ever. And it didn't seem like either Megumi or Han'nya had realized they were being followed.
"What do you want," Megumi asked the black haired industrialist, even though she already knew the answer. Kanryû sighed.
"You're going to make me say it? I want you back," he answered. Megumi glared at him, her look telling exactly what she thought about the idea. Kanryû continued:
"And if you don't come back, we'll burn the dojo down. And we'll make sure no one escapes."
"What?" Megumi exclaimed, unable to believe her ears.
"It's no use trying to escape," Kanryû said casually. "The opium and its victims… Those are things that you'll never be able to run away from. We are both bound to them." The tall industrialist turned and started walking away, leaving Megumi standing alone in the forest.
"One more thing," Kanryû called over his shoulder. "We attack at midnight. You've better decide before that." Then he left.
'Smart…' Hiei thought from the tree he was crouching in. 'Megumi leaves by her own will, so the rurouni has no reason to act.' Hiei looked at the crying woman and then at the retreating men before smirking. 'But you underestimate him…'
When evening came Megumi had disappeared, and all that was found was a letter in her handwriting, telling that she had returned to her home in Aizu.
"Lies…" Kenshin growled and ripped the letter to pieces. "There's no one in Aizu to go home to!"
"You're smart, rurouni," Hiei suddenly said. "I saw the woman talking with Kanryû earlier today. He said that he would burn down the dojo if she didn't return." Everyone stared at the indifferent swordsman.
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Kaoru snapped. Hiei didn't answer, only turned his head away. To Kenshin that movement seemed to signal something else than not caring. The rurouni motioned for Kaoru to calm down.
"Will you at least join us in the fight," he asked, his voice not betraying anything. After a while, Hiei nodded.
"Good…" Kenshin said before turning towards the brunette teen leaning against the wall. "Sano, you know where Kanryû's mansion is. Let's go!"
"Go ahead," Sanosuke answered, not moving a muscle. "Why should I fight for her?"
"Sano…" Kenshin started, clearly not in the mood to fight with his friend.
"My friend died from the opium she made," Sanosuke continued. "Why should I help her?"
"Did you ever see her eyes?" Kenshin asked coldly. "The loneliness in her eyes? Whatever reason a man needs to act, that is reason enough for this one." Sanosuke was silent for a while before nodding.
"Fine… I'm coming," he said and pushed himself off the wall. Hiei said nothing, but followed anyway. The red-haired rurouni looked at his two companions and nodded.
"Good… Let's go!"
TBC…
Grrr... this chapter was so crap! Sigh. You can see I haven't written anything for a while…
I'd like to thank all the reviewers; You are the ones keeping me writing. And I don't know what group of ninjas Touya used to be part of in his past. Let's just say he had very strong ties to the oniwabanshû, okay? It will make things a lot easier.
