Lexicon : (nb: I never repeat the explanation for words I've already mentioned once in an older chapter, but if you want me to do it again each time they come back, just tell me!)

Haa / Hai : yes

Kodachi : short saber, ancestor of Wakizashi

Zabuton : large flat cushion designed to sit on it (literally: futon-seat)

Takoyaki : dumplings with octopus pieces inside


Chapter 9 : The heart has its reasons, that reason ignores


The new wound of the samurai was an additional opportunity for the team of Kamiya dojo to be reunited. Doctor Takani was regularly checking that the surgical site didn't become infected, and Sanosuke was coming unofficially to protect the dojo of any danger during the incapacity of the samurai / officially to take advantage of a free meal, to avoid hurting the said samourai's feelings. This afternoon, men and women were discussing apart from each other, Yahiko playing on his own side with the dog, who was roaming like an insane animal behind the young boy in the garden. Kaoru and Megumi's conversation didn't interest him, and Sanosuke had made him understand with an electric glare that he didn't wish for him to be part of his discussion with Kenshin. The apprentice kendoka had thus decided to have fun with the only person obviously pleasant in this place : Lychee.

In the north angle of the garden, near bamboos in leaf, the atmosphere was more serious.

" I wanted to ask ya... " began the streetfighter.

Sanosuke had in mind during this last weeks the evening they had spent together in the small Izakaya, at the end of which he had brought home his dead drunk friend. Not that a good binge drinking from time to time did disturb him, but it was unusual on behalf of the wanderer, and the context had not looked like a festive one. They never had the opportunity to talk about it again, the streetfighter desperately not knowing how to engage the subject with a man deep inside so uncommunicative. And Kenshin was doing nothing to help him right now, because he didn't even raise an eye after his sentence. Direct way thus appeared to him - as often - the best.

"...You bein' totally wasted at the Izakaya, is it because of Jou-chan? "

" Sano... "

The wanderer frowned. He was slightly annoyed by the unpleasant memory, but at least Sanosuke had obtained his attention. The former Sekihotai pursued.

" Moreover, Jou-chan told me tha' you and her had quarrelled just before the accident with the carriage. She worries about ya, y'know. "

" Kaoru-dono worries about this one? "

The wanderer immediately felt a reek of guilt invading him. Which did not go unnoticed by Sanosuke, because his face had at the same time tightly tensed, and he understood that he'd said the wrong thing. He tried another approach.

" It's the new mission with Saito that bothers ya? "

"..."

" Kenshin? "

" Haaa. "

The former Sekihotai had the impression that all of this was only a part of the truth, the positive point being nonetheless that his friend wasn't trying to hide him his gloom with absurd smiles anymore. Several punches since the beginning of their friendship had been necessary to come to this result, but now Kenshin was at least more natural with him than with the girls whom he was always trying to protect.

"Ya don't have to go there, if ya don't want to," suggested the streetfighter.

"This one has to."

Sanosuke stomped a bunch of pebbles in front of him.

"That's it, it's his damned mission?! I knew it, I hate this guy, he always pulls ya in dirty business!"

Fuc-n' wolf! Always seeing him as the Battosai; always dipping back him into his past!

"Do not judge him so severely," answered the wanderer as if he was reading in his thoughts. "He and I are sharing the same sense of justice. This one would have gotten involved in this affair with or without his intervention, that he would have."

He stretched his reverse-bladed katana in front of him, gripping it tightly. His look was darker than usual.

"This is the way I have chosen to amend my crimes ... It will be so until my death."

The way of the sword noted bitterly the streetfighter. But he wasn't so affected by his previous missions... something's wrong with this business.

" It's a traffic case, isn't it? "

" Hai. " His jaw squeezed up more still. "This one thinks it's slavery. "

" Then that's because it's about kids? "

"I... don't know. "

He looked like he was truly hesitating.

" I mean... Ya never speak 'bout your childhood? " continued Sanosuke, feeling that he had touched a sensitive issue.

Himura sighed, but his face showed no emotion.

" To be honest... this one remembers very little. This one was too young when his parents died, that he was. "

"... Could ya try to tell me about it nevertheless? "

The samurai let a long silence extend between them. Before eventually answering him.

" There is nothing very interesting, that there is... Merely fuzzy memories like faces or voices... " He narrowed his eyelids. A ditty, that his mother often hummed, and which had long ago warmed the heart of the son he had briefly been in the past, had just come back to him.

His voice took a grave tone.

" Then there was a cholera epidemic, death, and... "

He broke off, closing abruptly his eyes.

"... Children are not made to suffer. "

" Kenshin... "

Sanosuke could almost feel for an instant his pain hanging in the air. He moved a hand forward to the shoulder of his friend, but this one straightened the head while smiling to him.

"Daijobu, Sano. This one thanks you for worrying about him, but it's not worth it, that it's not."

"To hell with this masquerade!" The former Sekihotai angered immediately. "I'm not fuckin' blind, I can see very well that somethin's wrong! Don't ever try to use this damned smile ya give the girls with me!"

Sanosuke kicked on the ground, making this time the innocent plants of bamboo tremble.

"... That's how ya value our friendship?"

He was fixing his friend intensely.

"Tell me the truth, Kenshin."

The wanderer sighed again, deeply this time.

"It is true that ..."

"...?"

"This one sometimes feels like…"

He hesitated again, seeming to look for the words that would be right. His voice vanished with the rising wind, carrying the first fallen leaves to the ground. He grabbed one with a single gesture.

"A stranger... in this reality..."

Sanosuke froze for a few seconds, frowned, then finally rested his hand on the shoulder of his friend who had briefly closed his eyes. Guessing what such a confession implied, his tone softened.

"Hey ... don't let the past overtake you, Kenshin."

The former assassin said no more. In his distant purple eyes, scenes were replaying in places that the ashes had since covered, in moments that time had since buried. His memory as his heart, a vast field of ruin.

"... I know it's not easy, but we're all present to support ya. Here and now," he continued in a low voice.

He shook his shoulder a little, but the former Ishin Shishi remained of stone, absorbed in his thoughts. His deeply melancholic gaze was mingled with blind sadness.

The streetfighter groaned inwardly.

Kenshin was no longer with him.

At the same moment, Yahiko was crossing the garden from one end to the other at lightning speed, dog firmly attached to a string behind him, but no one paid any attention to it.

Megumi and Kaoru were also busy discussing. They had reached on the thorny subject of their connections with men. Or more exactly, Megumi was urging the young woman to give her informations on the progress of her relationship with the wanderer, what the latter made with so much savings as possible. In fact, the doctor was still fearing that she wasn't able to take care of the samurai who had such a complex character. Although she appreciated that her interlocutor sometimes behaved as the sister - even the mother - she had not known, Kaoru was annoyed that she was systematically doubting her abilities as a woman. Because, at soon eighteen years old, she was really beginning to become a woman.

"... What happened before the accident? Ken-san wouldn't have been run over by a carriage trying to protect you, if he had been able to intervene in time." Megumi pushed her hair back with a movement of the head. "... did he weaken faster than I expected?"

" I don't think so. We weren't supposed to be together. " She sighed. "He followed me down there."

"Oh... it is quite a different problem then."

" Lately, he has become... nearly possessive. And sometimes authoritarian with me. "

The two young women were carefully glaring at each other.

"... you're the only one with whom he's behaving this way. Take that as a proof that he cares for you."

"I know it, but... he's so intense sometimes that it's exaggerated. I don't know what to do, Megumi."

"... give him some time. Be patient. Knowing everything he's been through so far, loving someone again must be particularly difficult for him."

She opened wide eyes.

"... do you think he really loves me?"

The doctor immediately gave her a pat on the back of the skull.

"Just tell that kind of nonsense again and you'll have to deal with me! You did not see how he reacted after your fake death!" Her interlocutor was rubbing her head on the impact point, slightly offended. "He literally broke down, before collapsing at Rakuninmura!"

Kaoru sighed again. It was a subject that the samurai had never approached with her, but about which she had since heard from her friends.

"Rather than constantly talking about me," she suggested, "tell me more about you ... and Sanosuke?"

Feminine instinct was a tremendous thing. Megumi automatically shot herself down.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Come on... you take care of him more than any of your patients. You're always looking for a new cure or whatever potion to relieve his fist."

"You talk about me as if I'm some kind of witch!" pointed out Megumi, noticeably upset. "Anyway, I guess you're somewhat right..."

Kaoru was listening her attentively.

"It's not that I don't appreciate Sanosuke -attention, I'm not saying that I like him either, huh, but ..."

She slipped her hand into her hair, which she had incredibly long and of a shiny black color. Her straight cut bangs were emphasizing refined features, highlighted by a plum make-up on her lips and a distinguished perfume with floral finishes. Kaoru was envying her beauty, which she was associating with that of a mature woman. Ironically, she was unaware of the effect she produced herself on the samurai, who was, as for him, much older.

"... our lives are taking very different paths, and I don't want to think about that yet," continued the doctor. "I know I'm over the age of getting married, but I want to finish my medical training first. To rebuild what my parents have lost in Aizu ..."

To find my roots...

"I can understand that. Even I have taken back the Dojo of my father and the values he was teaching when he has disappeared ..."

The two women were suddenly serious again. Yahiko and Lychee, meanwhile, were rolling on the ground not far from them, forming an indistinct human-animal mass.

"... It's simply not the right time," continued the doctor. "I need my freedom to achieve this purpose."

Maybe that if our paths had crossed a few years later...

For a brief moment, Megumi lost herself in her thoughts. Her pragmatic mind, however, quickly caught her up.

"... well, „Maybes" are useless." she concluded, shaking her head. "But you, Kaoru, you've still got a lot to do with Ken-san!"

The friends turned their gaze to the two men at the opposite corner of the garden, who were occupying the heart of their conversation. They were standing next to each other and seemed lost in their thoughts. But while he was being monopolized by Sanosuke, Megumi's sharp eyes noticed something abnormal with the wanderer. His upper limbs showed a slight tremor and a thin layer of sweat was beading on his skin, his complexion barely icteric. Hardened by years of exploiting drugs to improve their addiction while working for the businessman Kanryû Takeda, Dr. Takani knew how to recognize a withdrawal syndrome when she was seeing one.

...Opium?

Her brain began working at full speed.

No, his pupils are not dilated... then alcohol?

"Megumi-dono!"

The wanderer turned around abruptly in her direction, closing his eyes with his smile.

"Is everything ok?" he called out, questioning her.

"Ken-san ..." Megumi stammered, her heart suddenly leaping into her chest.

But how does he always know when someone is looking at him?

"... Yes, everything is fine. I was wondering, how is your arm?"

"Oro? Very well, this one can again move the elbow, that he can. You did a good job."

With that, he again smiled broadly. The tremor she had observed earlier had completely disappeared.

I don't see why Ken-san would do such a thing... He's been probably just practicing his katas before we arrived. She closed her eyes for a moment. By working so much I end up seeing sick people everywhere!

Megumi immediately drove away any ridiculous thoughts of her mind.

"I'm glad to hear it. Don't overuse it, keep in mind that if you press on it you could break the bone again at the same place."

" Hai hai. "

The streetfighter, whose belly had begun to gurgle, was approaching the newly formed group.

"Since the arm seems to heal, why not celebratin' it around a good sukiyaki?" he suggested, ostensibly forcing the cheerfulness of his voice (one can never know, to quote someone famous : based on a misunderstanding, this could work).

"That's amazing, you just never lose an opportunity to eat for free!"

"Mind your own business, Yahiko-chan ! It's not like you're bringing back money for the Dojo too!"

"I work at the Akabeko, precisely, in case you're ignoring it!"

"It's true that it's been a while since I've last seen Tae, I'd be happy to talk to her again..." Kaoru pointed out.

Having another opinion than that of Megumi would be nice...

Sanosuke sent a winning glance to the apprentice kendoka. This one did not answer, himself already absorbed in his thoughts at the idea of finding back the nice Tsubame.

"Are you coming with us, Lychee?" the wanderer offered while addressing the animal a friendly smile.

The little dog barked happily in his direction. As the days went by, he was finally getting used to Kenshin's presence. He had gradually integrated into his canine brain that although he could not understand the real emotions of this human or feel him when he was approaching, he had a systematically peaceful behavior towards him. Lychee had therefore finally accepted him as one of his masters, and was even showing lately signs of affection.

"Then it's decided : everyone at the restaurant!" proclaimed the assistant master of Kamiya Kasshin, whose stomach was also beginning to show signs of weakness.

The whole team of the Dojo thus went on the road, in search of a dinner with Western flavors.


These... these short and skin-tight pants... It is totally indecent!

Since when had the child he knew evolved into such an attractive young woman? If on the outside, the dark-haired man appeared almost in a permanent state of meditation to the others' eyes, inside, he was a sleeping volcano. The young woman had become a permanent self-control test for the brave Shinomori. A few more months doing that and he was definitely going to be transformed into a monk.

A metallic sound was heard. Aoshi instantly refocused on the current mission.

"Did you hear that?" whispered the young ninja, narrowing her emerald eyes.

Both of them stopped. They gestured to Omazu, Kuro, Shiro and Okon to do the same. Following the report of one of their informants, the fine team of Kyoto's Oniwaban-shu had gone to investigate an old shed near Yawara at south of the former capital. The place was supposed to be abandoned since the end of the Tokugawa era - many peasants having lost their land after the cutting and redemption laws of the new Meiji government-, yet the surrounding villagers had reported seeing people with unfamiliar faces going back and forth inside of it, mainly at night. An information that was disturbing enough for them to come and give it a glance. Only Okina had stayed at the Aoiya, his age no longer allowing him such an escapade, although he was still officially pretending to have to take care of the inn instead.

The old shed, rather picturesque in appearance, was actually quite big once inside. It was still dilapidated and dusty, but it had an interesting network of cellars. The former owners probably had to organize a hiding system in order to protect themselves from the frequent lootings during the Bakumatsu. They had not met anyone yet, but the metallic noise they had heard didn't misled the vigilance of Kanryu's bodyguards former chief. Aoshi protectively put an arm in front of Misao, and unsheathed. The man hitherto hiding in the dark didn't need to be asked twice, and instantly burst upon him. The former Okashira ran to meet him, reducing the space that separated them in a few steps, imperceptibly bent his knees, and received the man directly with his kodachis. Who collapsed on the ground, inanimate. Misao then fired a series of kunai on the other shadowy areas of the poorly lit hallway, forcing almost as many opponents to reveal themselves. The rest of the fight was quick, since in this limited environment clashes could only be done one-on-one, forcing almost every enemy to confront the dangerous Aoshi present at headline. One of them, however, managed to pass his guard and rushed on the small ninja with brown tresses that seemed to be the weakest. He pointed his wakizashi at her only to meet a kunai in resistance. The young woman, however, was lacking brute force, and the blade was going closer to her neck a little more every passing second. She jumped suddenly and threw her foot with all her strength into the assailant's crotch. As he stifled a cry of surprise (and pain), the other four ninja threw themselves on his body to control him, but Aoshi's kodachi came crashing down in his neck before. Thus, within less than fifteen minutes, the Oniwabanshu of Kyoto ended up alone again in the shed.

"It would have been interesting to be able to question them," Omasu pointed out to former Okashira, who had not spared any of his opponents. "We're still here to investigate, and so far we haven't been able to extract any information from them."

"They have thrown themselves on us." he replied simply, sheathing his two short swords.

Truthfully, he was beginning to work deep inside him the idea of subjecting his opponents without necessarily executing them. Influence of a certain samurai with cruciform scar ... However, not killing when practicing the deadly art of the sword was requiring a lot of experience and control, much more than just slaughtering one's enemy. To put it honestly, it was even infinitely more difficult ... Aoshi had realized this recently by trying to practice it. This was partly explaining the difference of level between Battosai and him in combat, which the former Okashira, nevertheless strongly skilled, had not detected before their duel. If this knowledge would have avoided the great disappointment that had followed it, it would also have prevented him from finding back his true family, there at the Aoiya. So, despite the bitter taste of defeat, Shinomori didn't regret anything that had happened at Mount Hiei.

"They must have been the rear guard," Misao suggested. "They were nor numerous nor very talented!"

As an ultimate act of fighter's coquetry, she was trying to hide the bruise on her neck with her hand.

"Let's see if we can find something interesting here," Aoshi added.

Whereas the young Makimachi was twirling from room to room like a butterfly, her comrades were taking time to observe each corner.

Impossible to detect anything at this pace, reflected the former Okashira while watching her waving needlessly. In fact, he was secretly appreciating her liveliness, which was contrasting so much with his own character, and her long brown braids, that were dancing in volutes around her.

The rest of the building was empty, but there were traces of recent human activity.

People have been here... lots of people.

Footsteps, some corresponding to children's feet, were on the floor. Hair, excrement and some traces of blood also...

Looks like the occupants had to leave hurriedly, since complete cleaning isn't done... Or maybe they just didn't care about erasing their tracks?

Misao suppressed a heave, but the other ninjas, more experienced, remained of marble. On a wooden desk at the bottom of a windowless room, they found a bunch of useless scrolls, lands and seas maps without annotations, absurd erotic prints, and what appeared to be a transactional document. Its content was dealing with the arrival and departure of various goods, none being explicitly named as a human being, yet the data seemed laboriously and unnecessarily encrypted. Aoshi grabbed the obviously used worn yellow sheet for the police forces.

"This paper might be useful for them ..."


Tae lowered her eyes on the ball of red and white fluff at her feet that was looking at her with love. Or with appetite, depending on the point of view. They were surrounded by the nice-smelling steams of the Akabeko.

" I think all of you are very well aware that dogs are not admitted in my establishment. " indicated the young boss, narrowing her eyes.

"Did ya hear that, mutt? " Sanosuke giggled with a triumphant look. " No meat for you this evening! "

The canine sneezed "accidentally" in his direction.

" It's not just a dog, it's Lychee! " pleaded Yahiko. " He's living at the dojo now... He knows how to behave ; he won't disturb anyone I promise you! "

As any respectable storekeeper, Tae Sekihara made a quick calculation in her head. The apprentice kendoka often came to help them at the restaurant, not always asking for a salary. She sincerely suspected that his presence was mainly linked to that of the shy and delicate Tsubame, but he had nevertheless saved them numerous times of difficult situations, particularly in summer when tourists were flourishing like weeds in an unkempt garden. To resume, he was someone she could count on. Kaoru was a childhood friend whom she was loving like a sister. Sanosuke was a hideous debtor whose loan was probably extending until a generation which would never be born. And Kenshin meanwhile... had rescued them many times, but had also almost as often involuntarily endangered them, not to say nearly led to the destruction of her restaurant and the one of her dear sister Sae in Kyoto, in more than one occasion. He was remaining, however, the inveterate lover of her dear friend.
The manager sighed.

" I am willing to make an exception because it's you, " she continued. " But I wouldn't like my regular customers to see someone with an animal ; they could get the wrong idea. Follow me, I will take you to the second room! "

The restaurant's highest (and only) stage was smaller but warmer than the large dining room situated on the ground floor. Its atmosphere was discreetly sieved, and at the center of tatamis was throning an already-set low table, surrounded by zabutons stuffed with buckwheat's pods. Oil lamps were enlightening the whole scene.
Sanosuke sat spontaneously (and loudly) alongside Megumi, Kaoru and Yahiko facing them. Kenshin took a seat at the end of the table, near a large wooden window overlooking the floor below.

The young waitress entered the room a few moments later, arms overflowing with foodstuffs and culinary equipment necessary for the consumption of the dish recently imported from the West, of which the Akabeko had made its speciality.

"Need some help, Tsubame? "

" N-no thanks, Yahiko... but you're a customer today. "

He answered by a proud smile. The little brunette put the pot made of cast iron in the center of the table, cheeks suddenly becoming scarlet. She then placed many bowls filled with konjac, tofu, various raw vegetables and shungiku or edible chrysanthemums as well as finely chopped beef, all to be dipped in the broth of warishita sauce then again into an individual bowl containing beaten egg, before finally being tasted. Sukiyaki was by definition a convivial dish.

Tsubame brought then the beverages, before greeting politely and withdrawing. Sanosuke poured himself a glass of saké and did the same for Kenshin, who accepted with a nod. He proposed it the to the girls, but both of them refused politely. As usual, Yahiko tried to jump on the bottle, before his master forbids him. The dog was laying down quietly beside him.

" Lychee is a great companion, " said Yahiko, stroking the animal's head. " Ever since he's with us, the dojo is much more alive! "

" I must admit that although I was thinking at first that he would only be another mouth to feed, I finally got really attached to this redheaded little thing!" completed his master, finely aware of the double meaning in her sentence.

"...Oro?"

" Look! Come on Lychee, do a trick for me! "

The boy held a piece of meat above the dog. He sniffed at it, blinked, then wisely lifted his fluffy paw. Yahiko rewarded him immediately by putting the piece in his mouth. Sanosuke could have sworn that the animal had sneaked at him before devouring his new trophy.

"Beef, a precious slice of beef ..." he grumbled, salivating.

" He's amazing, isn't he? He has learned this trick very quickly! " commented the apprentice kendoka.

" Mmh, maybe he did belong to somebody else before getting lost? Someone who'd have taught him to do that? " Kaoru suggested.

" Poor dog... " Yahiko continued "... Wait, did you just imply that I have no merit for his education?"

" I still don't understand how you can cling to this stinking pet, " concluded the former Sekihotai, eager to change the subject. " By the way, Kenshin, how's Saito's investigation going? "

Kenshin poured himself another drink. He had not touched his food yet.

" This one feels like they're having difficulties, that they do. They have even asked the Oniwabanshu for help on this case. "

" The Oniwabanshu?! So this fu- business goes much further than Tokyo. The damn wolf's gonna have fun... "

"It makes me think about poor Misao," added Kaoru while remembering herself of the fire and ice couple. " She's not ready to have what she wants with a man as cold as Aoshi... "

"Speak for yourself, you're not more advanced with K-" *CRAC*

The bowl of warashita sauce - mystically empty- crashed into the figure of the apprentice kendoka.

"Yahiko, that's none of your business!"

"Ah, so Aoshi and Misao are more of your concern?"

"Don't mix things up!"

Master and disciple thus began a legitimate duel of glare. The voices of the customers from below were raising.

"Stop performing, I remind you we're in a restaurant," sighed Megumi, who had long since abandoned the idea of staying proper at their side.

"As if you didn't stick indecently to Kenshin as soon as you get the chance, kitsune!" replied the streetfighter.

"Oro?"

Megumi rewarded Sanosuke with a hell glare. Definitely, with the young doctor he was making a collection of them.

"Well. You do understand absolutely nothing, finally."

"... What d'ya mean?"

She waved her hand coquettishly in front of his face.

"That I have no lesson to receive from you, Sagara."

"Women ... always convinced that we guess what's goin' on in your pretty heads ..." he grumbled, swallowing his saké all at once.

"Hey! Stop comparing me with this vixen!" growled out the master of Kamiya-Kasshin, who had not lost the conversation's thread. "I always say what I think."

"And that's exactly what people blame you for, busu!"

"Good God! Have a little respect, Yahiko-CHAN!"

"Yare yare," Kenshin moderated, placing his hands in front of them,"Let's try to enjoy this sukiyaki together, that we should..."

"Um," decided otherwise the assistant master, suddenly worried about what her beloved might think. "You're right, we don't have that many occasions to be all gathered here ..."

Kaoru smiled back at him and grazed his hand while grabbing the bowl of shiitake. This tender gesture didn't go unnoticed, for the samurai's eyes for once mirrored his smile.

"Kenshin, you barely ate anything," the doctor noted.

"This one is at a bit of a disadvantage to catch beef slices, that he is, " he laughed, waving his chopsticks with his only valid arm. " This one is right-handed. "

" Don't you dare using your right arm, " Megumi continued. "The sutures are still fresh and could break without any warning, over and above the fact that I really don't want to redo your bandage. "

" Hai hai... "

The conversation went on well, and as the dinner was progressing, spirits were naturally warming up around the cast iron pot. Lychee was proudly sitting on his own zabuton and was yelping with joy, his stomach still gurgling with the digestion of his proteinate reward.

Sheltered from this agitation, the wanderer silently sipped other saké cups. He was observing the bustle in front of his eyes with an absent air.

After a while, the voices of the ground floor became more noisy. Kenshin rose from the table.

" Sumimasen, this one will be back soon, that he will. "

He came down on the floor below, where an argument had broken out. The rest of the team joined him immediately, also intrigued by the sudden increase in sound volume. At the center of the room, one above the other, a young couple was exchanging heated words.

" Are you sure you haven't forgotten it at home? "

" It's impossible, I had it on me when we arrived... "

" That's your fault, you're always losing things! "

Meiko was starting to lose patience. How could they avoid the dishonor of leaving without paying?

" I repeat you that it is none of my doing! " ShinIchi continued, gesturing nervously. " I've searched everywhere on the zabutons, under the table, even at the restaurant's entrance! I just don't understand... "

The man was now desperate, and raised in his panic an umpteenth time the same cushions. Kenshin calmly took place in front of him, greeting the man with a fast and low bow.

" Himura Kenshin... "

"... Listen, mister Himu- whatever, you can see that my wife and I are pretty occupied right now ! " replied the husband, somewhat annoyed by the untimely intrusion. " I apologize, but I have no time for you. "

" Please do not be upset, this one is certain that the situation could be settled easily. "

With a wave of his hand, Kenshin pointed to a man with patched clothes, situated on a table in diagonal across the room.

"... This mister here should be able to help you. "

"Huh… what are you talking about? " ShinIchi stammered, following the samurai's finger.

The said individual was sitting at a table with three companions, all carrying a barely concealed firearm at their hip. He quickly put back his share of meat on his plate and took an offended look.

" I don't see what you're insinuating! Who are you to accuse a gentleman? "

The wanderer gave him a polite smile.

"This one thinks that the game has gone on long enough, that he has. "

For any answer, the presumed culprit laughed coarsely.

" You stole the purse attached on ShinIchi-san's belt on his right hip when he turned to his wife to propose her some tea, right after sitting down," Kenshin finished patiently.

The man rose abruptly, instantly followed by his henchmen. One of the four chairs fell on the ground in a loud *crac*. Meiko and ShinIchi were watching the scene with a mixture of hope and apprehension. The tone of the accused had changed.

"Are you calling me a thief ?!" spat the individual.

He stared at the samurai, stopping impertinently on his broken limb surrounded by a bamboo splint.

"... And what on earth does a lame man like you think he can do?! You have no proof! "

Sanosuke moved closer to his friend, taking care to crack his fists ostensibly. For sure, he did not appreciate what he was hearing.

" Proofs can be easily found, you know " the streetfighter snarled.

" You also stole the purse of the young woman sitting by the window near the entrance, that you did, Abe-san, " the wanderer continued.

Kenshin's smile was remaining intact. The thief's face, however, had tightened at the mention of his first name.

" H-How do you know my name? "

" You are known as Abe Okamoto, right? "

As much as Abe he was looking at him, he couldn't remember having seen this samurai before. Redheads being rare enough here to be sure he would have kept their meeting in mind. He spontaneously touched his arm at his belt. Sanosuke cracked his fists again heavily. All the attention of the room was now focused on the small group. Tae was secretly praying that a scandal would not break out in her precious restaurant at this rush hour.

" Just who the hell are y-"

"Actually, it's been a few days since this one first saw you in the neighborhood," cut Himura in a still courteous tone. "You have already committed some offenses, that you did. Almost a dozen this week alone…"

" Are ya sayin' that it's not his first try here?! " Sanosuke growled, already feeling the adrenaline rising in his muscles.

When did Kenshin see this? I guess it's part of his job with the police... or did he follow him on his own?

For some time, Himura was spontaneously participating in the protection of the neighborhood, sometimes in cooperation with the police. The former Sekihotai didn't remember, however, that he was recently given a case other than that of kidnapping.

"This one did not intervene because it was only pickpocketing. " he explained.

That's what I was doing too, before living with Kaoru and Kenshin... Yahiko was well recognizing his mentor, and his ability to judge the human being with wisdom and measure. He was watching the scene closely beside Tsubame and the other girls, ready from the start to intervene with Sanosuke to help the samurai in case of mayhem.

"I don't get it, what on earth does this have to do with you?! " cursed the thief. "You're not going to tell me you know my life now, do you?"

Abe had the uncomfortable feeling that the wanderer's smile was growing as the conversation went on. To be honest, the more he was talking to him, the less it really looked like one...

"... You are living in the district of Tsunohazu, but when the first hours of the day come up, you leave and commit your abuses here," the samurai cut again. "To get there you avoid the main road, but instead prefer the tight streets of Gai district, probably not to be followed. Wise decision."

Always that smile.

" Fuck off with your s- "

"When it comes to lunch, you often eat at the Gindako stall. Takoyaki, if this one remembers well. You told them you were seasonal at the port so that they would not be suspicious of you. Then from 14h, you start all this again in Omotesando neighborhood. "

An instinctive anguish began to win the thief. This was definitively not a smile.

He has literally tracked him down...

Sanosuke was also feeling uncomfortable.

... he was the best assassin of the Choshu patriots, directly under Katsura Kogoro's orders. He probably had to watch, hunt and kill more targets than anyone in this city …

" You are staying in a small house, and your wife is a florist. If this one is correct, you have a daughter too... What's her name already? Ah yes, Shizuka. You're a lucky man Okamoto-san, having a family is the greatest happiness."

Now Abe was clearly feeling a cold sweat running down his back. With a little imagination, he could have sworn to hear a Machiavellian laugh coming out of the redhead's mouth. The thief wasn't playing anymore.

"...You would not want to end up in jail and never see those you love anymore for this simple scam, do you?"

Kenshin stretched out his valid arm.

"Be reasonable, give them back their property."

With his bandaged member, feminine face and an almost small body, the redhead wasn't looking physically threatening at all. Yet, Abe had the disturbing sensation that he could lose much more than the only product of his thievery tonight…

He handed over without any hesitation the little leather bags containing the hard cash. Preventing his hand from shaking by doing this gesture required him a lot of energy.

"Do not ever come back here, Okamoto Abe." Kenshin finished in a firm voice.

The thief signaled his men to follow him and left the restaurant quickly, without even attempting to intimidate the wanderer with a threat of retaliation or to preserve what was remaining of his dignity as a thug. Tae released the breath she had been holding back almost since the beginning of this conversation.

Himura returned the lost purse to the relieved couple previously on the brink of rupture, as well as to the young woman near the window who had not even noticed the disappearance of her money yet, and then the whole team of the dojo Kamiya was able to return upstairs to savor the end of their sukiyaki peacefully. Sanosuke didn't forget to slap the wanderer's shoulder while going up the stairs.

"I wouldn't have been against a good fight, ya know ..."

Kenshin smiled at his friend. A frank smile this time, but still not reaching his eyes.

"This one prefers diplomacy by far."

The evening went on uninterrupted, and everyone at Akabeko - except for the former Sekihotai - was relieved that the altercation had ended peacefully.

Abe Okamoto and his men ran as far as they could when they reached the street. They stumbled, gasped, trembled, ignoring the cold of the night. The dull warning that was ringing between the samurai's lips and his terrifying amber gaze, promised them a fate worse than death...


Next chapter: Memories of a snowy day

...Another 2 or 3 chapters before the story truly begins / accelerates. Get ready! ; +)

*Author's complain* This was an almost twice longer chapter... I've been through hell to translate this ! Take pity and reward me with a small review... ToT

More seriously, I plan on making a huge correction of previous chapters someday, because every time I read them again I see a new mistake in my english or something that appears clumsy (or not exactly as I want). And I honestly just hate reading stories with a single mistake in my native language (yes, I'm a kind of psychopath), it gives me the feeling that the writer doesn't care about what he tells. Sorry for that (I wish I could have you reading the original version which is MUCH better -because I have to simplify lots of sentences to only be able traduce them *sniff*), I'll do my best to improve each time !


LadyDeprived : Yes ! I hope they will make the fourth film (which should have been done last year but was delayed because the actress playing Kaoru was pregnant... *gasp*) even with the sad news concerning the author. It would be such a pity knowing the previous ones were a huge success in Japan ! And we have so few animation from Jinchuu until now...

Queen Emily the Diligent : I'm so happy to hear from you again ! :+D

kaoruca : It is good to know we are sharing the same point of view ! I couldn't write something I believe could not happen. ;+) Thank you so much for your review !