Disclaimer: RK and it's characters are not mine, I merely borrowed them for my tale.

A.N. Hey hey! Okay, here's the latest chapter of my fanfic. For those of you waiting, you were probably thinking I had dropped off the face of the Earth! I haven't it's just hard to write when you work full-time :P Stupid real life gets in the way. That and the fact that I'm a terrible procrastinator. So I'm sorry for such a long wait! I hope you like it.

R&R!

Enjoy!

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Chapter 9

Kenshin met Saito's eyes evenly, and nodded slightly. Aoshi entered the room and gestured for Saito to do the same. Both men knelt before Kenshin.

"I'd like a few words with you, Saito." Kenshin replied. Saito couldn't help but notice that the annoying rurouni phrase 'this one' Kenshin constantly used when referring to himself was gone. Something had changed in the samurai, something big.

"What do you know of the man who was killed last night?" Saito asked straight out. Kenshin shook his head.

"I don't know who he was." was the response.

"Who killed him?"

There was a hesitation on Kenshin's part. That was the one question he didn't want to answer. He had a horrible feeling that it was Sakura. He actually had no doubt in his mind that it was Sakura. It was a battoujutsu that had been the killing blow. He had taught her that very move almost 12 years beforehand. He knew of only three people who could have possibly done that technique, and two of those people wouldn't have done it. But Sakura, with her current state of mind, she could have.

"I don-" Kenshin started.

"Don't lie, Battousai. It is very unbecoming of a samurai to lie." Saito interrupted. Yahiko growled slightly. Kenshin met Saito's eyes evenly. He knew it was unbecoming to lie, but he wanted to find Sakura and know for sure she had done it, before he told anyone.

"Then I will simply say that I don't want to name names, since I cannot be sure." Kenshin replied firmly. Steely black eyes narrowed at hardened amethyst eyes.

Yes, something had changed in Kenshin, Saito was sure of it.

"Do you know where this group of Shinsengumi came from?" Kenshin asked, changing the subject. It wasn't as if he didn't want to talk about Sakura, but if he knew a little more about the samurai he was dealing with, he would have a better chance of finding Kaoru.

"I don't know anything about them. I know that a rash of kidnappings has been happening in various places throughout Japan, it has only been recently that we have discovered the so called Shinsengumi involvement." Saito responded. He was craving a cigarette but he refrained. He didn't smoke in his own home, he would not disrespect Okina and the Aoiya by lighting one up in the room.

"Tell us about the other kidnappings." Aoshi requested.

It was going to be a long afternoon, Saito knew it, and he really wanted a cigarette now.

"If it would make Saito-san more comfortable, we could move this meeting to the outside, so that he may have a cigarette." Okina said. Saito glanced over at the aged man, wondering if he had been that obvious.

The group of men, and boy, made their way to the back garden of the Aoiya. Yahiko sat down heavily on the wooden step leading to the yard so he could keep a close eye on the four men that stood in the garden. Kenshin was flanked by Aoshi, and Okina stood to the side, his hands clasped behind his back staring up at the clouds.

Saito pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, inhaled, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"The police don't know much. Kidnappings were never well documented since the revolution. There were much more important things for the police to concentrate on, like enforcing the sword law, or keeping control in a very unstable country as the new government formed. It was about a year ago when suspicious numbers of young women started to go missing in the Hokkaido region." Saito started.

"How much is suspicious?" Aoshi asked.

"We're not sure the exact number. Fifty, maybe more." Kenshin's eyes widened at the number. Okina let out a large breath.

"That's a lot of women." Aoshi mumbled. Kenshin silently agreed. It was so easy to tear down an old government, but it took a lot longer to rebuild one. The police suffered because of that, and in turn, the people suffered because of that.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Yahiko asked loudly from his step. He wasn't too pleased that there were 3 highly skilled men standing before him who could easily go out there and find Kaoru and Misao, yet they were standing around talking like a bunch of women!

Saito looked at the boy and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "We aren't going to do anything, boy. You are going to sit there and keep your mouth shut."

Yahiko opened his mouth to respond, but he caught a look from Kenshin that had him closing his mouth immediately. Yahiko had never seen Kenshin give him a look like that. Usually Kenshin picked up for the young man, but this time it looked like Kenshin was agreeing with Saito! Not only was he disappointed, Yahiko was a little hurt that Kenshin sided with that creep.

Overhead, the sky grew gray with impending rain clouds.

Hiko prodded the fire a little more and looked overhead at the darkening sky. It was threatening to rain, and if he guessed right, it would rain hard. Hiko's eyes traveled from the gray sky to the girl who still lay on the ground, out cold. Beside him were his sword, and the sword he used to train Kenshin as a boy. He had thrown away the short sword the girl had in her grasp when he found her. It wasn't a very good sword and probably wouldn't survive what Hiko had planned.

He just hoped he was right about that girl.

Sakura slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes opened and she groaned slightly. Her first sight was a large man with long black hair looming over her. He was looking down at her with an odd expression. She was aware that she was lying on cool grass, and the warmth of a fire was nearby. She was also aware that she was in a lot of pain.

Her face bore the most pain, and the most damage that Hiko could see. Her lower lip was broken and swollen. Her left eye had a bruise surrounding it, and her neck was exceedingly sore. She vaguely recalled her final minutes of fighting her kidnapper.

Her captor had brought her to a secluded area, next to a river and not too far away from the roar of a waterfall. He had beaten her, resulting her facial damage, and she had allowed it. Mainly since she felt she deserved it for killing a man. He had started to choke her and threatened her. The fact that she didn't fight back wasn't good enough, so he started threatening Kaoru.

With that, Sakura had fought back. She had managed to grab his short sword and sliced his face open with it. She had the uncontrollable urge to kill him, but instead she found herself tumbling down the waterfall. Sakura couldn't remember how she had ended up in the river, or how she had found the strength and the willpower to pull herself to safety, but she did. And now she was lying on the cool ground, next to a warm fire, staring up at a large man.

"Welcome back, samurai." Hiko said. Sakura sat up and looked at him.

"Who are you?" she asked, wincing when her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. More damage had been done than she had realized.

"I am Hiko Seijiro." He replied.

"Hiko Seijiro?" she replied slowly, saying his name as if trying to remember him.

"Yes. And you are?" Hiko asked. The girl's eyes looked to him, and she hesitated.

"I don't know. I've lost my memory." She replied. Lie. Well, mostly. Hiko knew from her hesitation and the sudden change in her ki that she was lying, mostly. He prodded the fire again, sighed and stood up.

Sakura watched him warily. There was something about that man, something she couldn't quite place her finger on. For one she was oddly comfortable around him, which was weird since she hadn't felt comfortable around anyone since she woke up at Ginji-sensei's home. But at the same time she was unsettled by him. She could feel the power he exuded.

He was obviously a strong man.

She wondered what he would be like to spar against.

Sakura blinked and shook her head slightly. Where had that come from!

"You're lying." Hiko said calmly. Sakura felt herself bristle slightly.

"I am not lying." She replied coldly.

"You're lying again."

"I am not lying!"

"What more could I expect? You are a woman after all." Hiko sneered, glancing over his shoulder at her. Sakura was on her feet with that comment.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means. Women are liars."

"Excuse me? I am not a liar!"

"Then what's your name?"

"Hideki!" Sakura yelled angrily. She blinked, immediately calming. "Sakura."

Angry. Sakura actually found herself angry and annoyed with the beast of a man standing before her. Hiko turned and smirked and Sakura had the uncontrollable urge to slap the smirk off his face. As comfortable as she was with him, she was quickly starting to hate him.

"See? That wasn't so difficult was it?" Hiko smiled. Sakura scowled. From under his cloak, Hiko pulled out a small sword and threw it at Sakura. Instinctively Sakura grabbed it in her left hand. She glanced uneasily at the sword. It was a child's sword, one used for practice, but for some reason Sakura could feel the quality of the sword through the sheath.

"What is this?"

"I thought that would be obvious to someone like you. It's a sword. One I used to teach my baka-deshi many years ago. It is a good sword." Hiko replied. Sakura clutched the sword closer to her chest, grasping it with both hands.

"Someone like me?" Sakura asked.

"A samurai. It has been a while since I sparred." Hiko replied, parting his cloak once more and slowly unsheathing his own sword. Sakura's heart started to beat rapidly, with excitement. Her eyes grew slightly wider, shocked at her own feelings. She should be afraid, very afraid! Hiko Seijiro was obviously a gifted swordsman, and he wanted to spar with her! "I hope you don't disappoint me."

With those words, Hiko took an offensive stance. His eyes turned hard, and his breathing changed slightly, becoming more even. Sakura's heart clenched.

Now she was afraid.

Yahiko sat on the landing, staring at the men standing before him. They had been talking for over an hour and Yahiko's patience was wearing thin. Kaoru and Misao were out there, in the clutches of some criminal, and the strongest men in all of Japan were standing in a flower garden, talking!

The young aspiring samurai had a hard time keeping his emotions to himself. The men in the flower garden were well aware of the boy's impatience and annoyance. All but one chose to ignore it. Kenshin couldn't help but feel bad for him. Yahiko didn't know that logic was the first step towards rescuing the kidnapped women in this case.

It was true that Kenshin, Aoshi, Saito and Okina had been speaking for over an hour, they had come to the conclusion that the only reason why the women could completely disappear would be because they were taken from Japan totally. Vanishing without a trace just doesn't happen.

They still hadn't figured out why there was a group of men posing as Shinsengumi, nor had they figured out why they were kidnapping women. More talking would be needed before action occurred, and Yahiko was going to have to learn patience.

Of course, with constant talking, the subject was always steered back to the dead samurai, and Sakura. Kenshin evaded many questions on her, refusing to answer them mostly. Silently he worried about her, but no where near as much as he worried about Kaoru. Her hair ribbon was tucked into his gi, and it was like fire burning his skin.

"Himura." Aoshi said, snapping Kenshin out of his daze.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Kenshin asked, refocusing on the conversation.

"I mentioned that Shinsengumi normally show no fear and live out in the open." Saito replied. Kenshin nodded, since it was the truth. During the revolution the elite group of samurai lived in the midst of the city, moving back and forth wearing their bright blue colours.

"But these Shinsengumi are different, they work, and live in secret." Aoshi replied.

"Hmm, well we know they're not the same as those from the revolution. So of course we need to assume they are in hiding. Since the kidnappings are occurring in various cities around the country we need to find the common link between these cities. Saito?" Kenshin turned to the police officer. His question was unsaid, but Saito understood what Kenshin was looking for.

"Kyoto, Osaka, Matsue, Yokohama."

"All coastal towns, so obviously they are removing the women by boat." Aoshi said.

"Also towns surrounded with very thick forest." Okina said thoughtfully.

"We know that they need thick forest for cover, but they're also going to need a water source, so they must build close to a river or lake of some sort." Saito replied.

"There isn't enough time to cover all the rivers and lakes, we need to know exactly where to look." Kenshin replied.

"If they're building something, they would need to build big enough to house the entire group of samurai, as well as a group of women." Aoshi said.

"We are assuming that they keep the women and build a large group for transport. For all we know, they could take the women, and immediately send them away from Japan." Saito replied. With that horrible thought, the group of men fell silent.

Aoshi didn't want to think that Misao could be gone from Japan completely and forever. The thought made his heart constrict painfully.

As silence descended upon the group, Yahiko grew more and more impatient. He had listened to everything that had been said, and yet there had been no real plan formed; nothing that would indicate that they were going to actually start looking, and the evening was rapidly approaching.

Not only was darkness falling, but the clouds were rolling in, and the far-off rumble of thunder could be heard.

With the first sound of thunder, the four men looked up to see the darkening sky. A storm was approaching. The first droplet of rain fell, breaking the smooth surface of the koi pond, then the second, followed by more and more. Saito threw another cigarette butt down and stepped on it, putting it out.

"We best move inside to finish this." He said, and started for the residence.

Yahiko's patience finally snapped.

"Move inside? We should be looking for Kaoru and Misao!" He yelled, leaping to his feet.

"Yahiko." Kenshin said, stopping in front of the boy. Saito ignored him and proceeded to the cover of the porch. Okina couldn't stay in the rain, so he too joined Saito on the porch.

"No! Listen to me! Kaoru has been missing for almost a day! Misao for much too long! We need to act, not talk! You're acting like a bunch of cowards!" he cried, jumping from the porch onto the rapidly soaking ground. The rain was falling much harder now, and Yahiko, Kenshin and Aoshi were soaked in moments.

"Yahiko, we need to think this through, we can't just aimlessly wander through the dark night trying to find a house which may or may not exist." Aoshi reasoned.

"If you cared at all about Misao you would have been out there looking for her the second you learned she was missing!"

"Yahiko!" Kenshin scolded.

"No! You've turned into the biggest coward of them all! This Sakura woman comes along and you turned completely around! You used to be brave and now you're just hiding!"

Being reprimanded by an 11 year old was a new thing for Kenshin. Having the boy make complete sense was another story. But Yahiko was still a child; he didn't understand that rushing headlong into a battle wasn't the answer. At least not in this case.

"Yahiko, we can't rush into this. Kaoru-dono's life is on the line here."

"And the longer we stay here the more likely it is that her life is over!"

The mere thought that Kaoru was dead was like being doused in cold water. Kenshin remembered vividly the lifeless doll Enishi had left behind to fool Kenshin the previous year.

"I understand what you're saying..."

"If you understood, we wouldn't be having this conversation. If you're not willing to go look, then I'll go myself!" Yahiko yelled. Kenshin couldn't stop the boy when he ran. He took one step towards Yahiko's retreating back when a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder. Kenshin looked back to see Okina standing beside him.

"Let him go. He's worried and feeling as helpless as we all do. He'll be back."

Kenshin stayed where he was, and Okina dropped his hand back to his side. The sound of Yahiko's retreating footfalls grew softer and softer as the rain began to fall harder and faster.

Helpless was exactly what Kenshin felt, and his frustration was mounting because he couldn't do anything about it.

Yahiko ran as fast as his feet would carry him through the rain. The bottom of his hakama was quickly covered in mud and he was soaked through to the skin, but he continued to run. He had one last hope for help, it was a long shot, but anything was better than sitting around watching men talk.

He just hoped Hiko Seijiro was in a generous mood.

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A.N. Well, it took me a long long long long LONG time to get this chapter typed. I also spent a lot of time reviewing the last section over and over and over until it was as I had intended it. Whoever said writing was easy was lying. :P But it is fun so that's all good.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm starting the next one very soon. I won't forget about the story I promise I'll finish it:D

Sakra-san