Separate Truths

A Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction

*Announcement*- I am currently looking for some beta-readers for any of my fanfiction. Including my Inuyasha and Weiss Kreuz stuff (( shameless plug), Please email me at sabrinne@hotmail.com if interested!

Author's Note: Sorry about another rather short chapter and how long it took me to update! Unfortunately, my attention has been mostly on my Inuyasha fic lately!

Spoilers: Almost all for the Kyoto Arc.

Thoughts: thought

Disclaimer: Rights to Rurouni Kenshin and all of its lovely characters belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro, etc. Original characters all belong to me, but you can probably use them if you ask, ^_^.

Chapter 4: Shadows of the Past

The room was dark except from the small orange glow of a slim cigarette.

"Cigarettes are terrible for your complexion Fujita-san." A feminine voice sounded from the corner.

The man holding the cigarette remained expressionless as he looked at the young man sitting across from him.

"Kamatari, did you complete the mission?"

"Hai, Hai, it was only a country bumpkin, nothing serious."

"Well? Where is she?"

"On her way here I assume." The young man shrugged with a smile.

"Don't play games with me Kamatari, why is she not here with you?" Saitoh Hajime spoke quietly.

"Games? Don't forget I have as much stake in this as you do." Kamatari narrowed his eyes, " I merely found someone else to bring her here."

"Oh? I can't imagine you having a trusted friend."

"Friend? I wouldn't go that far Fujita-san!" Kamatari flashed one of his flirty smiles, "Just an old colleague."

Taking a drag of his cigarette, Saitoh stared expressionlessly at Kamatari and waited.

"He's just an old colleague from when Shishio-sama was still alive."

Kamatari thought he saw a flicker of surprise in Saitoh's eyes before he put the usual indifferent mask back on. Damn, I hate that guy. He's almost as bad as Soujirou.

"I don't feel like playing twenty questions with you, just don't screw this up."

With that said, Saitoh dropped the butt of his cigarette on to the dirty floor and crushed it with the heel of his boot before striding away.

Kamatari waited a few minutes in silence before exiting the building through the dark and dank alley.

**********

Raiha sat down on the futon as she rubbed her legs restlessly. Sighing heavily, she winced as her fingers hit a particularly sensitive spot in her muscles. They had made good progress until Keiko absolutely refused to walk another step after they stopped to rest in the late afternoon. Although she carried the little girl for another two hours, by the time the sun had fallen to the horizon, she too was weary beyond belief. Thankfully in the next town, there was a small boarding house where she could rent a small room for the night. Watching the flickering lamplight play on Keiko's sleeping face, Raiha lifted a hand to tuck back a lock of blue-black hair from the young girl's forehead.

No sense in moping over this situation, Raiha thought to herself, she was too tired to care about anything at the moment. All I want is a good nights sleep, she yawned. Taking a small basin, Raiha opened the screen door and headed to the small well at the back of the boarding house.

Soujirou watched silently from the rooftop of the boarding house as the door to the room occupied by the sisters opened. It had been like this allday. He had followed behind them at a distance with relative ease. By the end of the day he had been sorely tempted to make his presence known but he had been sure that whatever was left of Raiha's trust in him would completely disappear. Her muscles must be killing her right now. He thought, even though Raiha was obviously used to a lot of chores everyday, she still wasn't suited to carry a five year old child on her back for several hours. At least there has been no sign of trouble. Maybe Kamatari was wrong after all. Soujirou sighed as his gaze followed the girl's movements to the well. Its too early to tell just yet.

Walking silently along the path, Raiha shivered as a gust of wind blew by. Clutching her kimono tighter, she quickened her steps as the well came into the sight. Unease curled against her spine as little goose bumps rose on the back of her neck. Releasing the bucket into the well, she made quick work of pulling the bucket of water up. Pouring the water into the basin quickly, she spilled some onto the ground in her haste. Geez, Raiha, what are you scared of? I thought you had gone beyond being afraid of shadows. She laughed at herself. But as she hurried back to the room, Raiha thought she glimpsed a flash as the moon reflected at something in the darkened corridor.

Now you're seeing things, Raiha thought, shaking her head. There is nothing there, just your over-imaginative mind, baka. She still breathed a sigh of relief, however, as she finally opened the screen door to her room. Putting down the basin, she sank to the ground as she felt adrenaline pumping through her. Don't be silly Raiha! The last few days are just getting to you.

Soujirou watched her panicked motions at the well with slight apprehension. Did she see something? No, I would have been able to sense it. Just the thought crossed his mind, he suddenly felt the presence of a battle aura. Someone is here. Hmm, the strength of the battle aura is not enough to be the one that Kamatari is so worried about. His eyes were narrowed as he watched a figure dressed in black creep out of the corner. Noting a flash of metal as the moon reflected off of the person's drawn sword, he leapt off of the roof and blended in with the dark. With his keen gaze still trained on the intruder, Soujirou saw the light in the small room at the end of the long hall go dark.

Settling down near the door to the room, he patiently waited for the man to appear again.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Soujirou felt the man move away from his position in the corridor. But before the man had moved a few feet closer to the door, Soujirou already had his sword against the intruder's throat.

"Who are you?" Soujirou demanded in an almost soundless order.

The only answer he got was the shaking shoulders of the intruder.

Before he could ask again, the intruder twisted around suddenly and leaped onto the roof. He paused a few moments to stare down at Soujirou before escaping into the night.

So he wants a chase, does he. Soujirou was slightly amused. His lips turned up in a smile before he also disappeared into the night.

Reaching the far edge of town, the intruder suddenly stopped his flight and turned to confront him.

With his right hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword, Soujirou made his intentions very clear. His mouth turned up again in a small smile before asking again.

"Who are you?"

But the intruder only bent down slightly in a battle stance.

"Guess you aren't interested in conversation." Soujirou said politely. Moving his right foot forward, he also assumed a battle position.

Soujirou only watched with indifference as the figure lunged at him. Inexperienced. He's no match for me. Hesitating before using the sword, Soujirou waited until that last moment before turning his sword backwards and smashing the blade into the chest of the attacker. Watching as the slight figure fell to the ground, Soujirou walked to the place where the unmoving body lay.

Feeling the attacker's neck, he was satisfied with the steady pulse, He's only unconscious. Now lets see his face.

Pulling off the black mask that covered the attacker's face, his eyes widened slightly with surprise as a cloud of midnight hair fell to the ground.

A woman.

A small sound from the woman's throat distracted him from examining her any further. A small smile had appeared on her lips as her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Soujirou the Tenken." She whispered with small laugh. "How appropriate."

Taken aback by her comment, Soujirou felt tension tighten his body, No one has called me that in years.

"This is the last time I'll ask you this, who sent you?"

The woman only laughed maniacally. "Protecting the girl are you? Its no use, you can't win this battle Tenken." As she spoke her voice began to sound constricted as she gasped slightly for air.

Soujirou cursed silently when he saw her eyes glaze over slightly. She's poisoned herself. I won't get any information, she'll be dead in a matter of seconds. Standing up, his heart chilled slightly as he looked at the cold smile on her unmoving lips. What the hell is going on?

Looking down at the woman's side, he noticed the glint of a well made sword that had fallen from her loosened grasp. Picking up the sword, his eyes widened when he saw the design on the blade.

Juppon Gatana's seal?! He thought with surprise as he studied the dragon shaped seal carved into the shining blade. That's impossible. The only people who knew about this were the members of the Juppon Gatana and every one of them had either decided to work for the government or follow Shishio- san into hell.

His mind only ran into dead ends as he thought of all of the individuals who might have seen the seal and still lived. No, there couldn't have been, all those people had been eliminated long before. He had made sure of it.

Looking down, Soujirou examined the sword closely once again, this time he noticed something different in the design. At the base of the dragon's feet there was a small crescent moon, the seal of the Juppon Gatana had no moon there. Glancing over at the dead woman he damned her again for sacrificing herself before he could find her real motive. Before I left Shishio-san I killed anyone who had seen my face, but she recognized me. He thought, I must be missing something. Why is the design on her sword so similar to ours? And what does this all have to do with Raiha-san?

The unanswered questions swirled around in his mind as he quickly buried the corpse and headed back to the boarding house.

As the sun broke through the horizon, Soujirou slowly stretched from his position from the roof. The night had been quiet since the first incident, giving him plenty of time to analyze the situation. As the first rays of sunlight shone on his face, Soujirou only sighed with a hint of frustration. He still had no answers but he knew one thing for sure. Whoever sent the woman would send some else soon. This was not the end. These people were connected to Shishio-san and the Juppon Gatana, and next time he would get his questions answered.

Glossary:

Baka- Stupid, Idiot

Juppon Gatana- "the ten swords" Group of Shishio's best men.

Tenken- "Heavenly Sword", Sou-kun's nickname

Author's Note (Part 2): The Juppon Gatana's seal was purely made up by me and not part of the series. I figured that since they had to communicate between themselves, there could have been a symbol that identified themselves with each other especially on their correspondence. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this part.