Standard Disclaiers apply
Back at Aoiya
"I can't believe that you refuse to let me in on this!" shrieked an enraged Misao.
"It's for your own safety," Kenshin coaxed as his ears started ringing from her ranting. Misao had been screaming her head off after she woke up and realized that they had left her behind.
"I am capable of taking care of myself. I do not need you to decide what is best for me. I'm all grown up now and I appreciate being informed about such things," Misao stormed as she paced around the room. Her pigtail swished furiously with each movement.
"Well, we don't think so. Accept it as that," snorted Yahiko who was growing tired of her outraged remarks.
"Don't you talk to me like that Yahiko- CHAN. I am your senior and much better at fighting that you'll ever be in you pathetic life," yelled Misao, shaking her index finger at him.
"Why you…" Yahiko cried as he engaged yet again in another bout of heated arguments with Misao.
"Can't you two give us some peace? The house is noisy enough if you don't mind!' shouted Sano, frustrated by the arguing. He spat his usual fishbone the floor and punched his fists together. "Anyone who does not keep his or her mouth shut will get a beating from me," he declared.
"We are never going to hear the end of this," Megumi commented quietly to Kenshin, covering her mouth with her hand.
Kenshin nodded his agreement silently as he sipped his cup of jasmine tea. The brawling three engaged in a bout in which much of the furniture was either displaced from its position or smashed into smithereens.
Sighing a little, Kenshin turned away from the mayhem and admired the blooming blossoms in the garden. They swayed in the gentle wind like graceful dancers and seemed to move seamlessly in the dance of the spring.
Most importantly, they reminded him of the assassin he met the night before, the one they called Raven. She was beautiful, graceful and seemed entirely out of place in the battlefield like the flowers would be. Yet there she was, blending into the dreadful tapestry of blood and gore as if she was born there. It tugged at his heart for some odd reason, as if he saw himself in her, the once young boy that plunged foolhardily into a war that he could scarcely comprehend and made the greatest mistake of his life. 'What would she be thinking of now?' mused Kenshin as he savored his tea.
Raven stared out again into the yard as she thought of her new task sent down by Madame Butterfly. Bringing out the real Battousai sounded difficult yet easy at the same time. She knew that it was a matter of time before he would eventually win over Kenshin's willpower and emerge on the battlefield yet with the last technique that Kenshin learnt, it seemed that he had complete control over Battousai.
Furthermore, she had no intention of allowing Kenshin within a five feet radius of her unless absolutely necessary. However, she also admitted that was near impossible. What Madame Butterfly wants, she will get, with or without anyone's consent. She would most probably try ways and means to put them together in order for Raven to complete her mission.
'What am I going to do?' Raven screamed inwardly in a bid to vent her inner frustrations.
"Raven?" called out a voice from outside the room.
"What?" she answered vexed.
"Madame Butterfly wants you to doll up and receive some very special guests tonight."
'Three guesses who,' Raven whispered sarcastically as she rose to prepare.
"Why do I have to be here?" Raven asked Madame Butterfly for the hundredth time as they knelt in one of the many VIP rooms of the teahouse.
"Because I want you here. Besides, would you rather be out socializing?" Madame Butterfly pulled out her trump card.
"No thank you," Raven replied as she made a slight shudder. She absolutely hated her guise as a geisha, especially when it meant allowing lewd men to touch her.
"Then you shall stay here and perform the tea ceremony. It's so much better, isn't it?" Madame Butterfly asked sweetly.
"As you say," Raven hushed herself as footsteps sounded in the corridor.
The wooden door slid open to reveal Yamagata, Kenshin and Saitou flanked by a couple of body guards.
"Nice to see you again," Madame Butterfly greeted as Raven bowed lowly until her head touched the floor.
"Have a seat. Raven, serve the tea," Madame Butterfly ordered.
Raven silently nodded as she proceeded to do as she was told. The occupants settled down around a low black coffee table in the centre of the room.
"Why have you asked us here?" Saitou asked outright without any attempt to be polite.
"Because something has come to my attention," Madame Butterfly replied, unfazed by Saitou's bluntness. She was used to dealing with people like him.
"What is that?" asked Yamagata.
"You have a spy in your department. He is stealing information to give to Carrion."
"Who is he?" asked Yamagata.
"There are several involved in the hoax. This is a list of who they are," Madame Butterfly explained as she took out an envelope from her obi and handed it to Yamagata. "I hope that you can deal with them as soon as possible. They might cause trouble in the long run."
"Sure, I'll see to it immediately," Yamagata promised as he kept the letter.
"Why don't you hurry along? I have some things I need to discuss with the others."
"Sure," Yamagata said after a brief pause and left the room.
Raven closed the door behind him as he left.
"Let's proceed to more important business," Madame Butterfly begun. "I have here some drawings of Carrion Crow's technique called the Demon Annihilation Technique." She pulled out two identical books. "Inside you will find the detailed writings on all his sword moves. Since he has probably found ways to obtain knowledge of your sword styles, I thought it would be better if we even the odds a little. You may choose to study it if you wish. There are no strings attached. I just hope that you will defeat him."
"Your hope will be fulfilled as soon as we meet up," Saitou replied confidently as he took the book. "While I doubt I need it, I accept your generosity. There is no harm in knowing more."
"Thank you for sharing it with us," Kenshin replied politely as he took his copy.
"Feel free to ask Raven if you cannot decipher any of the techniques that are written in the book. She will be more than happy to demonstrate it."
"How does she know his technique?" Saitou asked, suspicious.
"I created it alongside Carrion when we were on the same side. I created the moves while he now has perfected it. I don't use this technique because it causes over reliance on physical strength and neglects style. It cause widespread destruction but tires the user out more quickly. Based on my opinion, if you can drag the fight with him for more than an hour, you are a shoo-in as the winner." Raven explained calmly.
"Well that is an astonishing insight," commented Saitou. "What made you enemies?"
"He has sunk into bloodlust. He loves bloodshed more than anything in the world. I enjoy the fight but I can't stand the blood. It makes ours a messy business."
"Well said. Like a true assassin." Saitou commended.
"Thank you."
Kenshin sat quietly at his corner, ignoring the heart wrenching feeling that was over coming him. Raven was openly discussing her job as an assassin as a minor issue one would talk over tea with friends. It both disturbed and unsettled him.
'Just what kind of person is she?' wondered Kenshin.
Sorry for the extremely late update
i hope you will accept my apologies
take this as my early X mas Present
also i;m accounting a writer's block
suggestions are really required
pls R&R