EDITED 10/12/08. I totally omitted the part of the scene where Ohkubo-sama banishes Kenshin. What's up with that? But it's here now!

Act 3, scene 1


"Come on, Sanosuke, they want to make trouble with us. Did you forget what Ohkubo-sama said?" The stoic young man's voice was exasperated as he leaned against the store wall. "If we meet then we will fight. Is that really what you want?"

"That's exactly what I want, Aoshi!" Sanosuke's voice sharpened with sudden anger. "You act tough and say you'll defend your family's honor, but at the first sign of trouble you run! Prove you're loyal! Stand with me!" Walking up to his friend, the spike-haired boy prodded him in the chest.

Aoshi backed up, "do you really believe I refuse to defend the honor of my own family?" His voice was colored with sudden iciness, daring Sanosuke to back up his claims.

Sano sighed and slung an arm around Aoshi's shoulders. "You know you're a force to be reckoned with… once you're provoked," he told his friend, "In fact…" his eyes lit with sudden mischief, "you're way more touchy than I am! You'd quarrel with a man just because he carried his sword in the same way you do…" Sanosuke trailed off, laughing helplessly.

"Shut it," Aoshi hissed, "Here come the Kamiyas."

Sanosuke shrugged, turning his back on the approaching gang. "Who cares?"

Glowering at his friend, Aoshi strolled down the street—falsely nonchalant—to meet Saitoh. Sanosuke sighed and followed him, keeping his sword hand on the hilt of his katana.

"Good day… gentlemen," Saitoh called when he came into earshot. "Might I have a word with one of your folk?"

"You can have a word," Sanosuke called back impudently, "but why don't you pair it with a blow for your trouble?"

Saitoh's eyes narrowed, "I would be glad to, if I find myself provoked."

"Your presence is provocation enough for me…" Sano sneered.

"Enough of this foolishness! You are aquatinted with Himura Kenshin, are you not?"

"Yes, we are…" Aoshi answered cautiously, "but we would do well not to continue this conversation amongst so many prying eyes…"

"Let them look!" Sanosuke insisted, "If they wanna to be nosy, they can get what they deserve."

"No matter," Saitoh replied turning away from the younger boy with a scarcely disguised mutter of baka. "Here is our friend."

Aoshi and Sano looked in the direction of Saitoh's glance and saw Kenshin returning from his conference with Hiko. "He is not your friend," Sano hissed at the older man. "You don't deserve to call him your friend."

Saitoh sneered, "no matter, Rooster Head." Striding toward Kenshin purposefully, Saitoh raised his voice. "Himura Kenshin! You are a pathetic waste of air. You don't deserve to share space on this earth with me—you are a villain, plain and simple."

Sanosuke sprang into action, but Kenshin held up a hand to stop him. "Stay, it's all right." Kenshin crossed his arms defiantly and turned to face Kaoru's cousin. "No," he said simply, "I'm not. I know that you have no reason to think well of me, but don't do this Saitoh-san, please. There… there are reasons, good reasons, why I will not fight you. Please, let's just walk away from this."

Saitoh's face contorted with rage. "Walk away? This is a greater insult than I had imagined, you vile, spineless moron." He drew his katana, pointing it at Kenshin. "Draw your sword. I refuse to accept your offer of peace. Draw your sword so that we can fight like men."

Kenshin's face remained passive. He longed to cut this arrogant man down to size, but he could imagine the hurt look on Kaoru's face if he beat her cousin senseless, so he refused to rise to the bait. "Saitoh-san, please, let's be rational."

Sanosuke ran toward his best friend, grabbing his arm incredulously. "Kenshin, what the hell is wrong with you?" He turned to Saitoh and raised his fists. "I don't have a sword, but if it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get. Come on, Saitoh-san­," Sano taunted, spitting out the suffix like bile, "Kenshin doesn't want to fight, but I sure do."

Saitoh's eyes narrowed. "It's all the same to me. I will beat Himura in the end—it makes no difference if you decide to go first."

Kenshin ran between the two men, looking at his best friend pleadingly. "Sano, please. Don't fight him—this has nothing to do with you."

"He insulted you, Ken," Sanosuke replied simply, "This has everything to do with me."

The first punch caught Saitoh by surprise, but he retaliated quickly with a jab from his sword. The gathering crowed jeered at the older man for using a weapon against an un-armed man, and Saitoh—casting a glance at the audience—sighed and threw his sword to the ground. Sano's second punch was blocked easily, as was his third and fourth. It seemed that Saitoh was as adept with his fists as he was with a sword. Sano fought like a cat backed against a wall, but Saitoh was faster, stronger, always moving one step ahead of the spiky-haired boy. Aoshi and Kenshin exchanged glances—they knew that Sanosuke was out-matched, even as their friend laughed cockily, thinking he was winning. By the time Sano realized that he was in over his head it was too late to save himself. Saitoh's fist crashed into Sano's jaw and the younger boy staggered backwards, hitting the back of his neck sharply on a fence post. There was a sickening crack and Sanosuke lay still.

No one moved for several seconds. Even Saitoh looked shocked at the turn of events. One of his men pulled at his arm insistently, dragging him away. Kenshin walked toward the limp body of his best friend, moving automatically. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry but most of all he wanted to end Saitoh's life. Kaoru's feelings no longer mattered—the only thing Kenshin could see was his best friend's broken body and he'd be damned if he let Saitoh get away with that. Aoshi pulled on his arm, beckoning him to go, to follow him home, to report this murder to Ohkubo-sama, but Kenshin pulled himself free.

"Kenshin, we have to go."

"No." The word was nearly inaudible, but Aoshi still heard him. "I'm not leaving his murder unavenged."

Aoshi forcefully turned Kenshin to face him. "Don't you realize how incredibly stupid that is? If you kill Saitoh than your life will be over—over, Kenshin." Aoshi looked over Kenshin's shoulder to see Saitoh returning to the scene. "Saitoh is coming back. We have to go now."

Kenshin turned to face Sanosuke's murderer, his cold eyes glinting with hurt. "Are you happy now? Sanosuke's spirit can't have gone far—why don't you stick around? Maybe he'll accompany you into the afterlife."

Saitoh sneered, drawing his sword. "We shall see."

The fight was quick and dirty—it became apparent that Kenshin's all-encompassing rage was giving him the advantage over Saitoh. With a fatal thrust, Kenshin ended the fight—avenged Sanosuke's untimely death—and stabbed Kaoru's cousin through his stomach.

Aoshi pulled him away and pushed him into a run. "Go, you foolish boy. Run, I'll explain this to Ohkubo-sama." His voice was hopeless, but he tried anyway. "Maybe you'll get lucky and they won't execute you for this."

Kenshin stumbled away, hiding behind a nearby building as the police swarmed to the scene. Aoshi had told him to run, so he would. He wanted to go to Kaoru first—to tell her his side of the story before she heard of Saitoh's death. He had to get cleaned up first, and that meant going to Hiko-sensei. He could hear Aoshi pleading with Ohkubo-sama, explaining the situation. Kenshin shook his head, wiping his bloody hands on his robe and broke into a run.


Ohkubo pushed past the growing crowd of Himuras and Kamiyas and examined the carnage with troubled eyes. Two men were dead—men who were barely out of boyhood—and one on the run. He knelt by Sanosuke's broken body, tilting his motionless head from side to side, surveying the damage. "Who is responsible for this?" His heart was heavy. He didn't want to hear the answer. He wanted to banish both families and their pointless, never-ending feud.

"Saitoh-san, sir," Aoshi spoke softly, his eyes trained on the ground. "Saitoh threatened Kenshin, but Sanosuke got in the way. They fought and Sano was killed. Then Kenshin killed Saitoh."

There was a stifled sob from Himura-sama. "Please, Ohkubo-sama," she cried, "Please don't execute my son. He was taking vengeance—the same vengeance you would have taken against Saitoh."

Ohkubo turned on the crowd with a snarl. "Yes, but vengeance wasn't his to take. This is how this mess started; with citizens taking the law into their own hands! Enough is enough. I will not kill Kenshin, but he is banished from Tokyo. If he ever sets foot in this city again, I will order his execution."

Himura-sama's wail of grief was echoed by Kamiya-sama's cry of anger. "Unfair," she shouted, "Saitoh is dead—Kenshin should die as well!"

Ohkubo's voice rose above the din. "This feud will end, or so help me I will scatter both families to the wind. You have upset the peace for too long—and for too long have I allowed it. If you find the terms of my judgment unfair then you may leave Tokyo along with Himura Kenshin. This is my decision."

The crowd began to disperse as the rain began to fall.