Standard Disclaimer: Unfortunally I neither own Rurouni Kenshin nor the characters but at least the story is mine.
I am really, really sorry for the delay, but the bitter truth is that I lacked both inspiration and motivation. I hope you will still continue to read this unworthy fic of mine. I also promise that I will be faster with the following parts!
Another thing I want you to know is that Priya-chan didn´t have the time to beta-read this chapter, so you might find a few (or many) mistakes. Feel free to keep them ^^!!!
Like always I thank Mara for her helpful advice! You´re the best!!!!
Chapter 7: Weasel to rescue
The Weasel was avoiding him.
It didn't come much as a surprise to Saitou but nevertheless it bothered him more than reasonable. Not that he would admit it, even to himself.
She did her work, even better and more carefully than before, visited the Osaka Oniwabanshuu several times for endless long discussions and came back with interesting information about Nanjo and the way he lived and fought in the last fifteen years, but he could not fail to notice that his sheer presence had begun to make her feel uncomfortable. But then he could hardly fault her for that. Misao´s behaviour was proof enough that the kiss had been a necessary mean to wake her up from her whiny state of mind. But although not having her usual non- stop senseless blabbering around should be a pleasant novelty, he somehow missed her earlier childish temper-tantrums. Life was far more boring without them.
Shaking his head he returned his attention to the report he had just getting from one of his sources. It was...unsatisfying to say the least. Nanjo was near, already in the same city and nevertheless it was impossible to spot him. He was waiting in the dark, waiting as patiently as a predator for his prey.
Saitou smirked. Well, that idiot had forgotten that he was a predator himself.
With his usual fluid movements, he stood up and folded the report carefully. His golden eyes narrowed as he examined the position of the sun. It was time to go back to his stupid Weasel Girl, who was most probably already waiting for him.
Unbidden, a sarcastic little smile appeared on his thin features and lightening a cigarette up, he stood up, shaking his head in disbelief, as his thoughts wandered to her again. No matter how happy-go-lucky she was most of the time, there was also something of the wolf in her, something wild and lonely that reminded him of himself, only that he had lost the innocence she possessed a very long time ago. That meant, he added with a smirk, if he ever was in possession of it which he doubted.
He still chewed over these thoughts as he finally arrived at the huge house. "Weasel, I am...", he stopped in midsentence, his eyes narrowing.
The room laid in complete chaos. Restless all of the furniture was smashed by some cruel hand and the carpet was all trampled while the drapery had been stripped away mercilessly. With narrowing eyes Saitou noticed a sticky pool of blood cooling on the floor, blood that was already colouring a little piece of paper with an address written on it.
With a twitch in his jaw, he picked the paper up, not caring about the blood, and crumpled it up in his hand.
It was a trap, as clearly as ever one was set up. Obviously Nanjo had used his absence to overwhelm the girl, thinking he would try to rescue his "mistress."
A thoughtful expression appeared on his thin features as he considered his options. This was most probably his only possibility to get Nanjo into his reach. But then he should and could not forget the Weasel.
*You know, guys like you just know the way of the sword and nothing else, but there is something kenjutsu can't give you! Kaoru-san and Kenji have shown this to Himura. They have shown him something his damned sword could not -happiness!*
He snarled in disapprove.
Happiness. A silly, unnecessary and betraying feeling only a fool, or worse, a woman would wish for. Perhaps even Tokio in her own self-chosen world had longed for happiness, who knew, but for sure she never had Makimachi Misao´s faith. If there was one thing that he envied the girl for, it would be her naive belief that happiness was the most self-evident truth.
Slowly he stepped out his cigarette, a cold amber fire in his eyes and against all sense he decided that Nanjo would die twenty deaths for every second she suffered.
After all nobody fooled around with Mibu´s Wolf.
********************************************************************************
Misao counted silently until ten. Then she breathed in and out, concentrating only on her inner calmness.
When it all didn't help, she began to scream loudly and uncontrolled and felt instantly better. *So much for meditation, Aoshi-sama.*
It was unbelievable, unbelievable and grotesque, and if she were not so afraid that she should not see any other day, she would probably laugh about the absurdity of all this. Was it just her or had her life turned to an never-ending streak of bad luck ever since this crazy Ex-Shinsengumi had made her leave the Aoiya? Not only that he had dragged her through half of Japan, only to strand in a city where she had to play his concubine, he had also stole her first kiss in a freakish attempt to toughen her and now, to top it all, he had made this crazy freak Nanjo kidnap her.
Damn you, Miburo bastard!
Near another hysteric outburst, she tried again to lay still, not to fight, to struggle or to scream, as if it were her choice to be on a filthy chair, her hands and feet chained with loops of a strong tape. After all, there was no sense in deliberate efforts to break her boundaries, this Nanjo knew his business very well.
Nanjo.
Misao still could not believe that this man had overcame her from behind and brought her here, but the dizziness in her head and the ache of her bones was proof enough. Again she shuddered. It seemed that he was far more dangerous than she or Saitou had suspected.
Closing her eyes, she tried to picture the wolf, to bring him up like an image on her mind. Saitou would not let her down, would he?
*Stop it, Misao. You are not speaking about Himura, but about crazy, pitiless, idiotic Saitou. Who are you to think that Mr. Wolf would come to rescue you? He had made his point clear that you are just a stupid kid to him.*
Closing her eyes, she felt this realization make her heart ache more than reasonable before the sound of the key in the lock jolted her again.
*Kami-sama, I know that I don't talk to you very often, but please have mercy on me. I just don't want to die yet. Not before I declared my love to Aoshi-sama. Not before I told Saitou that...well whatever, but please don't let me die here.*
"Sorry for the delay, dear."
She looked up and stared into two large glistening eyes, cold and rigid as eyes could be, who smiled down at her sarcastically. "It is not a sign of good manners to let a lady wait, but I hope that you understand my situation. I still have lots of preparation for your lover's visit to perform."
"You are so sick", she whispered, still staring at his exquisitely shaped face whose only disgrace was the ugly scar on his forehead. Then she gained back her consciousness. "And for the hundredths time, Saitou is NOT my lover! How often do I still have to tell you this, you freak?!"
To her surprise he laughed, his voice soft and silken. "Such temper", he murmured. She caught her breath as his long slim fingers suddenly reached up and grabbed her chin, tilting her head back. "But will do you still speak so boldly when I slowly rip your pretty little face into pieces?"
Anger raised in her, hot and uncontrollable as she felt his hands on her skin. "Well, try me!" she hissed at him. "But before you do so, I'd like to know what exactly I will be killed for! But then you are just an obsessed idiot whoselogic might prove absolutely insane!
He laughed again, his eyes glittering with unmistakable amusement, and all of a sudden a playfully cruel smile appeared on his lips. "I doubt that you would understand, darling dear", he mused softly. "But well, why not kill some time and explain a few things to you?"
When the girl did not respond, he chuckled and stepped a bit back. "Are you sulking? Well, in a way I can understand you. For you shall not die for your sins, but for the heartlessness of a man, who has never cared how many people he destroyed with his own scruplesness."
Raising her chin challenging, Misao shot a devastating glance towards him. "There is not much logic in making such a theatre about a man you think so low of, don't you think?"
To her surprise, Nanjo's cool expression changed with these words, leavingbehind nothing but a deep weariness. "I can't change it", he returned, suddenlysounding very calm. "I was so young, I admired him so much and all I wanted was a bit attention, a little sign that he cared whether I lived or died, but Saitou Hajime never cared for anybody or anything besides his duty. His lack of interest has destroyed me, and I shall not forgive him that." For one moment he seemed to look through the girl, staring at some setting he alone could see. "I had never known anything stable in the world before my family forced me to join
the Shinsengumi and then I met him, Saitou Hajime, the captain of third unit, a wolf, as wild and cruel as ever one have been. Brutal he was, scrupleness he was, but so sure of himself, so mercilessly self-conscient. Can you imagine how this untameable man impressed the little child that I still was with my fifteen years?"
As she only stared at his with widened eyes, he laughed bitterly. "Of course you can't. You are one of those who will always win over their fortunes."
For the blink of a second, Misao saw Aoshi in front of her inner eye, shutting her out of his world without even giving her a chance to reach him and against herself she felt an odd mixture of disgust and compassion for the man in front of her. "You don't imagine", she murmured. Then she shook her head violently. "But if you grew so fond of him, why the hell could you ever betray him?"
"Because I loved him more than anyone else", he explained calmly. "This was why I could hate him more than anyone, too."
"This isn't very logical, isn't it?"
"It is. Let me give you a lesson about the world, little girl: Love and hatred are just tow coins of the same medal. They are not so far from each other as you perhaps imagine."
Again Misao shook her head, trying to forget the image of Aoshi in her head. "I still say that you are sick! Why haven't you simply live on after leaving Japan behind? Why have you continued to live for a man who could not care less about you?"
*You could ask yourself the same question.*
To her horror she felt tears dwelling up in her and bit herself hard on the lips. *That's not the time to behave like a little baby, Makimachi Misao!*
His eyes were bitter as he finally answered her question. "I tried. Believe me, I tried but all I wanted was to...", he stopped shortly as if he was realizing it himself just now. "I wanted to see him...sharply...painfully...Again andagain I thought of it...like a thing cursed...That is my only reason for existence." The smile disappeared on his lips as he continued with sudden rage. "And that is what waits for us at the end of the road: To kill each other until one of us draws a last breath. That is - after all - our destiny."
She stared into his eyes, whose expression suddenly matched her own.
"Well, sorry to tell you this, but he will not show up", she finally told him, quieter than before. "He is not dump enough to fall for your trick and I...I am not that important to him. To be quite honest, I am of absolute *no* importance to him."
Again the thought hurt more than she could explain to herself.
"Don't underestimate yourself." His eyes were an odd mixture of sympathy and weariness this time. "I have seen the way he looks at you. It's the way helooked at Okita-kun or Kondou-sama, people he considered worthy of his respect and friendship. It's even a little like it was with Tokio, just without the pain." A nostalgic little smile appeared on Nanjo´s lips. "With Tokio it was always the pain."
Despite herself, Misao felt curiosity dwelling in her. "You knew Tokio-san?"
"I knew her secrets as she knew mine", Nanjo replied mysteriously. His eyes veiled a bit. "Sweet, broken littlee Tokio-san. So beautiful, sopretty and so beyond any help or comfort. You know, she always reminded me of a bird with broken wings. I wonder..." The cruel smile returned to his lips as if it had never vanished. "I wonder how he could fall for you after being in love with a woman like Tokio."
For one moment the girl was speechless. Then her blue-green eyes sparkled with sudden heat. "So you wonder why one could fall for me?" she snapped at him, totally forgetting that Saitou had not done so in reality. "Well, wanna hear MY opinion? In contrast to Tokio-san or to you pitiful freak I give life a try! I mean, look at yourself. You are just living in the past and endlessly lamenting about what a poor unloved person you are! That's no wonder for you are egocentric, stupid and absolutely insane!! If you were half the man Saitou is, you would have found a place in the Meiji Government. Life isn't a straight path, you know, cause sometimes you walk across rough mountains and then walk back. I can't stand people who give up without even trying!"
Nanjo´s eyes flashed. "What the hell do you know, little bitch?" he hissed at her. "You don't know anything about my situation!"
"Oh no?!" she yelled back. "So let me tell you something about my life, freak! I have spent the last three years trying and trying to get just some little attention from the person I love most, but he was too busy drinking tea and meditating to notice me! What do you say now?!"
"I say that you're..."
"Seems as if you two are enjoying your company", a familiar mocking voice suddenly said behind them.
Both of them turned around in a flash.
Misao´s eyes widened. "Sa...Sa...Sa...", she stuttered in a strangled voice.
"What's the matter, Weasel Girl? Have you lost your voice? Not that this would be a bad thing."
It couldn't be true. But then a hallucination would not be so unnervingly sarcastic, so her eyes were not playing a trick on her. Which meant that Saitou was actually casually leaning against the door, a cigarette in hand and his mouth curled in an unmistakable smirk.
"Saitou!" she exclaimed finally.
Looking into his narrow amber eyes and the lean, fierce bones of his face, she felt tears dwelling up in her.
Why did you come, you idiot?
I am really, really sorry for the delay, but the bitter truth is that I lacked both inspiration and motivation. I hope you will still continue to read this unworthy fic of mine. I also promise that I will be faster with the following parts!
Another thing I want you to know is that Priya-chan didn´t have the time to beta-read this chapter, so you might find a few (or many) mistakes. Feel free to keep them ^^!!!
Like always I thank Mara for her helpful advice! You´re the best!!!!
Chapter 7: Weasel to rescue
The Weasel was avoiding him.
It didn't come much as a surprise to Saitou but nevertheless it bothered him more than reasonable. Not that he would admit it, even to himself.
She did her work, even better and more carefully than before, visited the Osaka Oniwabanshuu several times for endless long discussions and came back with interesting information about Nanjo and the way he lived and fought in the last fifteen years, but he could not fail to notice that his sheer presence had begun to make her feel uncomfortable. But then he could hardly fault her for that. Misao´s behaviour was proof enough that the kiss had been a necessary mean to wake her up from her whiny state of mind. But although not having her usual non- stop senseless blabbering around should be a pleasant novelty, he somehow missed her earlier childish temper-tantrums. Life was far more boring without them.
Shaking his head he returned his attention to the report he had just getting from one of his sources. It was...unsatisfying to say the least. Nanjo was near, already in the same city and nevertheless it was impossible to spot him. He was waiting in the dark, waiting as patiently as a predator for his prey.
Saitou smirked. Well, that idiot had forgotten that he was a predator himself.
With his usual fluid movements, he stood up and folded the report carefully. His golden eyes narrowed as he examined the position of the sun. It was time to go back to his stupid Weasel Girl, who was most probably already waiting for him.
Unbidden, a sarcastic little smile appeared on his thin features and lightening a cigarette up, he stood up, shaking his head in disbelief, as his thoughts wandered to her again. No matter how happy-go-lucky she was most of the time, there was also something of the wolf in her, something wild and lonely that reminded him of himself, only that he had lost the innocence she possessed a very long time ago. That meant, he added with a smirk, if he ever was in possession of it which he doubted.
He still chewed over these thoughts as he finally arrived at the huge house. "Weasel, I am...", he stopped in midsentence, his eyes narrowing.
The room laid in complete chaos. Restless all of the furniture was smashed by some cruel hand and the carpet was all trampled while the drapery had been stripped away mercilessly. With narrowing eyes Saitou noticed a sticky pool of blood cooling on the floor, blood that was already colouring a little piece of paper with an address written on it.
With a twitch in his jaw, he picked the paper up, not caring about the blood, and crumpled it up in his hand.
It was a trap, as clearly as ever one was set up. Obviously Nanjo had used his absence to overwhelm the girl, thinking he would try to rescue his "mistress."
A thoughtful expression appeared on his thin features as he considered his options. This was most probably his only possibility to get Nanjo into his reach. But then he should and could not forget the Weasel.
*You know, guys like you just know the way of the sword and nothing else, but there is something kenjutsu can't give you! Kaoru-san and Kenji have shown this to Himura. They have shown him something his damned sword could not -happiness!*
He snarled in disapprove.
Happiness. A silly, unnecessary and betraying feeling only a fool, or worse, a woman would wish for. Perhaps even Tokio in her own self-chosen world had longed for happiness, who knew, but for sure she never had Makimachi Misao´s faith. If there was one thing that he envied the girl for, it would be her naive belief that happiness was the most self-evident truth.
Slowly he stepped out his cigarette, a cold amber fire in his eyes and against all sense he decided that Nanjo would die twenty deaths for every second she suffered.
After all nobody fooled around with Mibu´s Wolf.
********************************************************************************
Misao counted silently until ten. Then she breathed in and out, concentrating only on her inner calmness.
When it all didn't help, she began to scream loudly and uncontrolled and felt instantly better. *So much for meditation, Aoshi-sama.*
It was unbelievable, unbelievable and grotesque, and if she were not so afraid that she should not see any other day, she would probably laugh about the absurdity of all this. Was it just her or had her life turned to an never-ending streak of bad luck ever since this crazy Ex-Shinsengumi had made her leave the Aoiya? Not only that he had dragged her through half of Japan, only to strand in a city where she had to play his concubine, he had also stole her first kiss in a freakish attempt to toughen her and now, to top it all, he had made this crazy freak Nanjo kidnap her.
Damn you, Miburo bastard!
Near another hysteric outburst, she tried again to lay still, not to fight, to struggle or to scream, as if it were her choice to be on a filthy chair, her hands and feet chained with loops of a strong tape. After all, there was no sense in deliberate efforts to break her boundaries, this Nanjo knew his business very well.
Nanjo.
Misao still could not believe that this man had overcame her from behind and brought her here, but the dizziness in her head and the ache of her bones was proof enough. Again she shuddered. It seemed that he was far more dangerous than she or Saitou had suspected.
Closing her eyes, she tried to picture the wolf, to bring him up like an image on her mind. Saitou would not let her down, would he?
*Stop it, Misao. You are not speaking about Himura, but about crazy, pitiless, idiotic Saitou. Who are you to think that Mr. Wolf would come to rescue you? He had made his point clear that you are just a stupid kid to him.*
Closing her eyes, she felt this realization make her heart ache more than reasonable before the sound of the key in the lock jolted her again.
*Kami-sama, I know that I don't talk to you very often, but please have mercy on me. I just don't want to die yet. Not before I declared my love to Aoshi-sama. Not before I told Saitou that...well whatever, but please don't let me die here.*
"Sorry for the delay, dear."
She looked up and stared into two large glistening eyes, cold and rigid as eyes could be, who smiled down at her sarcastically. "It is not a sign of good manners to let a lady wait, but I hope that you understand my situation. I still have lots of preparation for your lover's visit to perform."
"You are so sick", she whispered, still staring at his exquisitely shaped face whose only disgrace was the ugly scar on his forehead. Then she gained back her consciousness. "And for the hundredths time, Saitou is NOT my lover! How often do I still have to tell you this, you freak?!"
To her surprise he laughed, his voice soft and silken. "Such temper", he murmured. She caught her breath as his long slim fingers suddenly reached up and grabbed her chin, tilting her head back. "But will do you still speak so boldly when I slowly rip your pretty little face into pieces?"
Anger raised in her, hot and uncontrollable as she felt his hands on her skin. "Well, try me!" she hissed at him. "But before you do so, I'd like to know what exactly I will be killed for! But then you are just an obsessed idiot whoselogic might prove absolutely insane!
He laughed again, his eyes glittering with unmistakable amusement, and all of a sudden a playfully cruel smile appeared on his lips. "I doubt that you would understand, darling dear", he mused softly. "But well, why not kill some time and explain a few things to you?"
When the girl did not respond, he chuckled and stepped a bit back. "Are you sulking? Well, in a way I can understand you. For you shall not die for your sins, but for the heartlessness of a man, who has never cared how many people he destroyed with his own scruplesness."
Raising her chin challenging, Misao shot a devastating glance towards him. "There is not much logic in making such a theatre about a man you think so low of, don't you think?"
To her surprise, Nanjo's cool expression changed with these words, leavingbehind nothing but a deep weariness. "I can't change it", he returned, suddenlysounding very calm. "I was so young, I admired him so much and all I wanted was a bit attention, a little sign that he cared whether I lived or died, but Saitou Hajime never cared for anybody or anything besides his duty. His lack of interest has destroyed me, and I shall not forgive him that." For one moment he seemed to look through the girl, staring at some setting he alone could see. "I had never known anything stable in the world before my family forced me to join
the Shinsengumi and then I met him, Saitou Hajime, the captain of third unit, a wolf, as wild and cruel as ever one have been. Brutal he was, scrupleness he was, but so sure of himself, so mercilessly self-conscient. Can you imagine how this untameable man impressed the little child that I still was with my fifteen years?"
As she only stared at his with widened eyes, he laughed bitterly. "Of course you can't. You are one of those who will always win over their fortunes."
For the blink of a second, Misao saw Aoshi in front of her inner eye, shutting her out of his world without even giving her a chance to reach him and against herself she felt an odd mixture of disgust and compassion for the man in front of her. "You don't imagine", she murmured. Then she shook her head violently. "But if you grew so fond of him, why the hell could you ever betray him?"
"Because I loved him more than anyone else", he explained calmly. "This was why I could hate him more than anyone, too."
"This isn't very logical, isn't it?"
"It is. Let me give you a lesson about the world, little girl: Love and hatred are just tow coins of the same medal. They are not so far from each other as you perhaps imagine."
Again Misao shook her head, trying to forget the image of Aoshi in her head. "I still say that you are sick! Why haven't you simply live on after leaving Japan behind? Why have you continued to live for a man who could not care less about you?"
*You could ask yourself the same question.*
To her horror she felt tears dwelling up in her and bit herself hard on the lips. *That's not the time to behave like a little baby, Makimachi Misao!*
His eyes were bitter as he finally answered her question. "I tried. Believe me, I tried but all I wanted was to...", he stopped shortly as if he was realizing it himself just now. "I wanted to see him...sharply...painfully...Again andagain I thought of it...like a thing cursed...That is my only reason for existence." The smile disappeared on his lips as he continued with sudden rage. "And that is what waits for us at the end of the road: To kill each other until one of us draws a last breath. That is - after all - our destiny."
She stared into his eyes, whose expression suddenly matched her own.
"Well, sorry to tell you this, but he will not show up", she finally told him, quieter than before. "He is not dump enough to fall for your trick and I...I am not that important to him. To be quite honest, I am of absolute *no* importance to him."
Again the thought hurt more than she could explain to herself.
"Don't underestimate yourself." His eyes were an odd mixture of sympathy and weariness this time. "I have seen the way he looks at you. It's the way helooked at Okita-kun or Kondou-sama, people he considered worthy of his respect and friendship. It's even a little like it was with Tokio, just without the pain." A nostalgic little smile appeared on Nanjo´s lips. "With Tokio it was always the pain."
Despite herself, Misao felt curiosity dwelling in her. "You knew Tokio-san?"
"I knew her secrets as she knew mine", Nanjo replied mysteriously. His eyes veiled a bit. "Sweet, broken littlee Tokio-san. So beautiful, sopretty and so beyond any help or comfort. You know, she always reminded me of a bird with broken wings. I wonder..." The cruel smile returned to his lips as if it had never vanished. "I wonder how he could fall for you after being in love with a woman like Tokio."
For one moment the girl was speechless. Then her blue-green eyes sparkled with sudden heat. "So you wonder why one could fall for me?" she snapped at him, totally forgetting that Saitou had not done so in reality. "Well, wanna hear MY opinion? In contrast to Tokio-san or to you pitiful freak I give life a try! I mean, look at yourself. You are just living in the past and endlessly lamenting about what a poor unloved person you are! That's no wonder for you are egocentric, stupid and absolutely insane!! If you were half the man Saitou is, you would have found a place in the Meiji Government. Life isn't a straight path, you know, cause sometimes you walk across rough mountains and then walk back. I can't stand people who give up without even trying!"
Nanjo´s eyes flashed. "What the hell do you know, little bitch?" he hissed at her. "You don't know anything about my situation!"
"Oh no?!" she yelled back. "So let me tell you something about my life, freak! I have spent the last three years trying and trying to get just some little attention from the person I love most, but he was too busy drinking tea and meditating to notice me! What do you say now?!"
"I say that you're..."
"Seems as if you two are enjoying your company", a familiar mocking voice suddenly said behind them.
Both of them turned around in a flash.
Misao´s eyes widened. "Sa...Sa...Sa...", she stuttered in a strangled voice.
"What's the matter, Weasel Girl? Have you lost your voice? Not that this would be a bad thing."
It couldn't be true. But then a hallucination would not be so unnervingly sarcastic, so her eyes were not playing a trick on her. Which meant that Saitou was actually casually leaning against the door, a cigarette in hand and his mouth curled in an unmistakable smirk.
"Saitou!" she exclaimed finally.
Looking into his narrow amber eyes and the lean, fierce bones of his face, she felt tears dwelling up in her.
Why did you come, you idiot?