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Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin. Lots of people and companies with lots more money than I have do. This was written for fun (well, maybe not fun, considering the content), and I receive no profit for it besides the comments of the readers (Review :nudge nudge hint hint: ).
On with the fic!
thoughts>>
{[flashbacks]}
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READ THE WARNING BEFORE PROCEEDING FURTHER
By Lady Shorinai
The moon had nearly set, its pale light casting long shadows. The streets looked like dark canyons from the roofs and fence tops that two figures were moving quietly across. They had stopped briefly, only long enough to tell the patrol the location to go to and to not come in until called. Though they had only been traveling for a few minutes, to Kenshin it felt like hours. Every step they took that brought them closer to finding Kaoru made him feel as though the process was growing longer for the sole purpose of taking more time. He was anxious for the whole business to be over.
The building they came to was dark—not surprising considering the hour. This particular shop was closed for most of the year; the owner rented it out to various people on various occasions, so it was used mostly at holidays and festivals and stood empty otherwise.
Kenshin and Saitoh dropped soundlessly to the street. Moving close to the entrance of the shop, they listened for sounds from inside. Quiet shuffles that could have been anything from wild animals to the wind finding cracks in the building, a half-suppressed cough followed by a few muted-voiced words. Two pairs of yellow eyes met in the darkness, and Kenshin went for the door. Sliding open the panel, he stepped inside.
Three men were standing within. "Who are you?" one asked.
"You are the one who has been… requesting the ladies?"
"I've never seen you before. Are they all indisposed? Couldn't they find even one?" He laughed derogatively. "They haven't made a good catch in a week."
Kenshin let his anger and frustration boil up through his blood. With a growl, he struck out with his sakabatou. One blow to the nearest man's neck and he dropped to the floor. The second man had begun to draw a sword. Kenshin hit him twice; one blow to numb his arm—unfeeling fingers immediately dropped the hilt—the second to throw him into the wall, where he slid unmoving to the floor. In the time that took, the speaker for the three managed to take a step backwards. That was all he could do, however, before the redhead reached him. He froze when he felt the sting of steel against his neck. Kenshin had come to a sudden, complete stop, the sharp tip of his sakabatou resting on the man's Adam's apple. The man's frightened mind flew through options. The redhead's voice, low and menacing, filled the room. "Give me a reason."
A moment later, when nothing else happened, Saitoh entered the room. "You're under arrest," he drawled.
Kenshin heard running feet coming down the street. They straggled to a stop in front of the store. "You're slow," Saitoh said. "Take these two in. Abukara, Takimoto, wait outside. We have a few questions for this one."
A general chorus of "Hai!"s came from the officers, and most of them took the two unconscious bodyguards away. Neither Kenshin nor the speaker moved; the former held in place by barely contained rage, the latter by sharp steel and a sharper yellow-eyed gaze. When the three were alone, Saitoh took out a cigarette and lit it. "Do you have anything to say?" he asked in a mild tone. The man, his eyes still locked with Kenshin's started to sweat. Saitoh sighed. "Let the man breathe, Battousai, or he can't talk."
For a long moment the redhead didn't move, fighting his rage for control. Because of this man, his Kaoru-dono was gone. He'd learned the hard way with Enishi that that was something he never wanted to experience again, and now this man was the reason the pain the memories were once more so close to the surface. Those summoned the Battousai from his slumber to try to wrest control from the Rurouni. One week without the reassuring presence of the girl who'd offered him a place in her home, a place to stop wandering, and the Battousai was so very close to winning. Both halves of Kenshin knew that the best way to learn her whereabouts was to take this man alive—however much the Battousai wanted his blood. So while there was anger painted on the redhead's face, his movements were calm and precise as he took a step to one side and sheathed his blade.
To most swordsmen, sheathing a sword was to show that they did not intend to use it again soon. Those who knew the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu style knew that it is not always the case. Kenshin's moves could draw his blade and strike faster than most men could blink. The prisoner displayed his ignorance of the man standing near him by relaxing slightly at the gesture.
Saitoh dragged on his cigarette. "I hate to repeat myself."
"I have nothing to say."
"You're sure of that? The life of Battousai, here, has been… disrupted by your activities. It has made him somewhat irritable. If he decided to kill you for it, I wouldn't really have time to stop him."
The man's eyes went wide and slid over to the redhead when he heard the name "Battousai." He hadn't noticed it earlier—a blade at the throat has a marvelous way of focusing attention. He smiled nervously, not certain whether he believed the wolf or not. "B-but you're the police, and I'm under arrest. You have to keep me safe or you can't get answers from me."
"Not even I could move fast enough to keep him from killing you at that range. Now, if you cooperate and tell us what we want to know, we can put you in a cell where he can't reach you."
He didn't want to believe. Saitoh could see it in his face as he tried to comprehend that the small man standing near to him was one of the deadliest legends in Japanese history. But his mind refused to let him forget the lightning-fast accuracy that so neatly disposed of his bodyguards. He couldn't take his eyes off the smaller man, off the hand resting lightly on the saya, ready to thumb the blade loose from the sheath. "Alright, alright! I'll tell you. Just, please, keep him away from me!"
"What do you want with the women?"
"My master wants them."
"For what?"
"Someone else handles that."
"Who is your master?"
"I will not say."
Saitoh let it drop. For him to withhold information under the threat of the violence of the Battousai, it must not be something he would give up quickly or easily. "Where do you take them? Who do you give them to?"
"The small shrine on the north side of the city. Tansho takes them from there."
"And he holds onto them from there." The tone made it a question.
"Yes. To the best of my knowledge, yes."
"Is there a usual time the... exchange takes place?"
"Six in the evening."
"You hold onto them all day?"
"It gives us time to… inspect them for… flaws. It saves time for Tansho."
"What kinds of 'flaws'?"
He squirmed. "Scarring, deformation, that type of thing."
"Hmm. Abukara! Takimoto!" Saitoh called out the door.
The two officers snapped to attention. "Hai!"
"Take him to headquarters."
"Hai!"
"See that he's fully interrogated."
"Hai!"
The prisoner offered no resistance as the two led him away. Neither Kenshin nor Saitoh moved until their footsteps faded into the distance. "Well," the taller man said. "Another step found."
"But how many steps are there?" Kenshin's voice was dangerously calm. His gentler side was losing the battle. For the first time in ten years, he wanted to kill.
"We'll find them, Battousai." 'We'll find her' was left unsaid.
Kenshin turned to go without another word. His displeasure was evident in the silent precision of his movements, in the harshness of his expression. The two walked together in silence to the police station.
Saitoh stopped outside. "Nothing should happen before this evening." He crushed his cigarette under his heel. "Go home. Rest. If something happens before then, you'll get a message."
Kenshin didn't move.
"Go home, Battousai," the taller man ordered. "You hanging around will only make the men nervous."
Kenshin's eyes narrowed, but he left.
"Besides," Saitoh muttered under his breath to the redhead's receding back, "if this organization is as big as it looks like it's turning out to be, you'll need to be at your best to rescue your woman."
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The dojo was quiet save for the birds beginning to stir in the pre-dawn light. Yahiko wouldn't be up for another few hours. Kaoru wasn't there to yell at him for laziness, and if he was awake he would just have more time to worry, so Kenshin decided to let him sleep. After stirring up the fire for the furo, he went to the kitchen to start making a light breakfast for the two of them.
Once he'd bathed and eaten and made sure there was enough food set out for when Yahiko woke up, Kenshin went to bed. The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was the sounds of the birds.
The slide of the shoji door woke him. He lay perfectly still until the breathing of the other person made it known who it was. "Yahiko." He sat up and looked at the boy. From the angle of the shadows, it was almost noon. "Did you eat?"
"Yeah. Thanks." Kenshin nodded. "Did you find something last night?"
Kenshin didn't want to give Yahiko what might turn out to be false hope, but Kaoru was too important to both of them for him to say nothing. "Yes, we found something. It looks promising."
"But we don't know?"
"We don't know."
Yahiko looked very disenheartened. "Are the police going to do something?"
"I think so, tonight." He answered the question before the boy could ask it.
"Can I come?"
Kenshin paused. He didn't want to put Yahiko in the path of danger. "Saitoh would say no."
"Oh." The young samurai seemed to be expecting an answer like that, as his expression didn't show any additional disappointment.
"Why don't you go to the Akabeko today? I shouldn't need to leave before five." It would do him good to get out of the dojo.>>
"You sure you won't need me?" There was a small glimmer of life in his voice as he asked. Having virtually nothing to do to keep his mind off his worries for the past week, just the prospect of doing something different brought a wave of relief, though it made him feel disloyal.
"I'll be fine. You go. I'll leave a note if you're not back before I leave."
Yahiko nodded his thanks, closed the shoji, and walked away. Kenshin lay back down to try to sleep some more, though it was a while in coming.
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Yahiko hadn't returned by the time Kenshin left for the police station. The rurouni figured that meant he was also eating there after work.
Headquarters was crowded with police. Still, no one challenged him as he made his way to Saitoh's office. Since a number of the them were in plainclothes and none of the regulars seemed surprised at him, the others took him to be one of their own.
There were several men standing around Saitoh's desk, looking at a map where he was pointing things out. "Okakura-san, you take your force and go in through this entrance; Sunada-san, you take the north one; Kikuchi-san, lead on the main entrance; I'll lead a smaller force through the 'delivery' entrance. We strike at 5:50. Go take up your positions." The men finished studying the map and filed out of the room, many glancing at Kenshin on the way out. When the two were alone, Saitoh spoke again. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it in time."
Kenshin ignored the light barb. "There's more than one entrance?"
"Mm. The two guards our snitch had with him last night have been through enough of the complex to give us their locations and some idea of what's right inside them." He finally glance up. "You're assigned to go in with my team."
"Is there any idea of where Kaoru-dono is?"
"No."
"I'd rather go in the front, then."
Saitoh nodded. "Tell Kikuchi-san I authorized your transfer to his group. He should be with the largest mob outside." He dropped his gaze back down to the map. Kenshin walked back outside.
Kikuchi was a tall, broad man with an air of authority and a voice that carried without his having to yell. He was currently outlining the troop's orders. "We're going in the front entrance. Try not to kill those inside, but do subdue resistance. All men inside are to be put under arrest, all women to be put under protective custody until their statements can be taken. All groups are to commence the raid at 5:50, stay hidden until then. Move out; take up your positions!" He noticed the small redhead standing near him as the group started heading out through the streets. "Eh? What do you want?"
"Fugita-san authorized my switching to this group."
Kikuchi sighed, clearly not pleased by his superior's last-minute changes. "Well, too late to put you under a different squad. You'll go in under me. What's your name?"
"Himura Kenshin."
"Our squad's leading the charge. Just follow me in."
"Wakarimashta (16)."
The courtyard was rapidly growing less crowded. "Let's go!" Kikuchi called to the rest of his troop, and they started out at a brisk pace.
The troop arrived at their designate waiting place with nearly ten minutes to pare. Most used the time to cool down from the trip. Kenshin, barely winded, assessed his surroundings. They were in a wooded area on the far south side of Tokyo, surrounding what was advertised to be spring resort. The north entrance, which Sunada's troop would be going through, was well inside the town, connected by an underground tunnel. As they prepared to strike, Kikuchi called to squad leaders over for last-minute instructions. "Narato-san, your squad goes right inside the gate; Maita-san, yours goes left. Inoguchi-san and Haga-san, you follow mine, we'll go in through the building. There may be some legitimate patrons staying here, so treat them with respect. There's an underground complex where the kidnapped women are being held. We'll find it and go through it. Egami-san, Ikoma-san, you go where it looks like you're needed most. Wakarimasu ka (17)?" The officers spoke an affirmative. "All right. Get ready, we go in in two minutes."
As the squad leaders passed on the instructions, Kikuchi settled to watch the spring resort's compound. There were two servant-girls crossing the yard, one carrying flowers, the other carrying towels. They disappeared into the main building.
Kikuchi checked his watch and stood. "Alright, men. Let's
go!"
To Be Continued
Please, Review!!! Onegai shimasu!
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Kenshin seems a little bloodthirsty in this one, doesn't he? Keep in mind that Kaoru has been gone for a week, and the Battousai has been slowly coming to the surface of his personality. And what's Battousai's way of getting rid of obstacles? Kill them.
If you're still wondering what the title means, I can give you
the translations of the individual words, but I can't tell you if it actually
makes sense.
tatsu - dragon
rokujou - the six emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure &
love, and hatred
saya - sword sheath
(16) "I understand."