Standard Disclaimer: Unfortunately I neither own Rurouni Kenshin nor the characters but at least the story is mine

Again great thanks to Mara. What would I do without you?



Chapter 8: Showdown for the Wolf

Breathlessly Misao watched how Saitou slowly stepped from the shadow of the doorway, his drawn sword gleaming in the dim light of the afternoon. The tip of his cigarette glowed bright for a moment then he quirked his lips and a trail of smoke issued from the corner of his mouth. "Nanjo", he greeted his old enemy casually. "Still throwing tantrums like a spoiled brat as I see."

"Hajime-san." Nanjo´s eyes narrowed at the sight of the weapon. "You are not loosing any time as I see."

"I never did."

A little smile, half nostalgic, half cruel appeared on the younger man's full lips. "True enough", he mused softly. "But I wonder what you would do if I called for twenty or thirty of my best-trained men now. Would your fighting skills be good enough to kill them all?"

His only response was a sardonic smirk. "You and I know well enough that there are no men hiding here", the wolf stated coolly. "It's just you and me."

Misao could almost feel Nanjo´s surprise at this answer, but his voice did not loose even a bit of his silkiness. "Oh? Why are you so sure of that?"

The older man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Considering your obsession
with revenge, it was an easy guess."

Then he lifted his sword in his typical gatotsu position. "And now that I'm here, we will settle matters once and for all."

Again the Omnitsu girl caught her breath but to her enormous surprise Nanjo just began to chuckle. "You really never change, don't you, Hajime-san?" he scoffed at his former captain. "You are always the same, whichever age it may be. How does the poet say: ´Strive as we may for a moment of tranquillity, it is always the same. For we are no more than clay dolls, sculpted by God.´"

The Ex-Shinsengumi captain snored, still in his fighting position.
"Don't call me a puppet, Nanjo, when you are the one dangling from someone
else's strings."

"Dangling from someone's else's strings?" Nanjo rose an eyebrow. "Me?"

His opponent's eyes gleamed coldly. "Well, just look at yourself! And then try to remember the man you were fifteen years ago, a man of my unit, a wolf of Mibu, feared and respected all over Japan. You might have been overly naive back then, but at least you weren't a complete idiot." He pointed towards him with the tip of his sword. "Now look at you, Nanjo, completely controlled by your perverse wish of revenge. This wish has disgraced your face far more than my sword."

Nanjo´s eyes began to shine dangerously. "Don't think that I don't know what you are doing here. You're just trying to make me loose my control over myself!"

"Which was always a pathetically easy thing to do."

"Cunning bastard!" Misao couldn't help a mental shiver as she saw the corner of Nanjo's mouth curl upward in a faint, blood-chilling smile. Then he suddenly pointed at her, a vicious light in his eyes. "But you've forgotten the most important thing! I still have the girl!"

Saitou shook his shoulders nonchalantly. "Well, fine for you."

"WHAT?!" Misao and Nanjo shoot back in unison.

The cold, unshakable purposefulness of Saitou´s expression was already unnerving enough for the girl but his following words topped it all.
"She's just an onmitsu, I know briefly. I've hired her to find you", the Ex- Shinsengumi explained casually. "Look into her eyes, Nanjo. Don't you recognize Makimachi Hayato´s granddaughter when you see her?"

His former student blinked in astonishment. "Makimachi Hayato´s..."

"Granddaughter, exactly!" Misao hissed. "And thank you very much for your concern", she added evenly in Saitou´s direction.

His only response was another laconic shrug of his shoulders. "Sorry, Weasel."

Meanwhile Nanjo eyed them both distrustfully.
"And I should believe that you came here just to save a girl who means nothing at all to you?"

"I came here to save Japan from your invasion."

"Oh, of course." The silkiness returned into Nanjo´s voice but this time highlighted with a vicious undertone of malice.
"Have you ever thought that this might me your fatal flaw, Hajime? That you think to much about your precious country and much to less about the ones dear to you?" He shook his head in mocking seriousness. "Have you ever thought that Tokio might still live if you would have been a bit less selfish?"

Something flared briefly in Saitou's golden eyes, and hid again, but that was enough for Nanjo. A little smile appeared on his lips. "Yes, I heard about her death. And I am more sorry about it than you would believe. But then it is all and entirely your fault."

"You don't think that you stand any chance to provoke me, do you?"
Saitou´s voice sound as casual as ever, but nevertheless the Onmitsu girl thought to see a brief change in his manners before he put on his warrior mask again.

Her eyes widened in worry. It was not at all like Saitou to give an opponent just the slightest tactical advantage.

Suddenly she considered a fascinating possibility.
*He had really loved her.*

In spite of the situation she nearly could not suppress a mad burst of laughter. Mr.Eat-my-cigarettes had actually been in love with another person! And maybe he still was.

Nanjo was still staring at Saitou when he finally answered, a cruel smile on his lips. "Tokio", he mused softly. "What did you ever know about your wife?"
His voice sounded soft again all of a sudden but somehow it frightened Misao more than the hatred did earlier. "You have never understood her, Hajime, never. And that was why, no matter how much you loved her, you could never give her what she really wished for."

Misao couldn't believe her ears. What this freak was doing was not only unfair, it was pure malice! Inwardly she clenched her fists. "Don't fall for this!" she shouted at the former Shinsengumi. "How can you be at fault when someone dies? You are not a God or something like that."

Nanjo sneered as he turned back to her. "Oh, no God, that's true, little one, but at fault nevertheless. Or do you think that Tokio would have killed herself if she had had a good husband?"

Misao froze, her mouth opened.
Tokio...killed herself?!

She stared at Saitou whose expression was as quiet as a battlefield short before the storm. Oh Kami-sama...

But Nanjo wasn't done yet.
"Has she ever told her about her youth, Hajime?" he continued his torture. "Has she ever told you how the Bakumatsu had stolen her the only person she loved from childhood on?"

Saitou´s eyes flashed at these words. Certainly, it occurred to Misao, certainly it hurt him that his wife has trust herself to Nanjo but not to him.

But the freak wasn't done yet.

"And you? Have you ever tried to heal her wounds, Hajime? Or have you been to *TOO* occupied with your duties?" Nanjo chuckled. "Forgive me, but you could as well say that YOU killed your wife!"

"Perhaps you are right." Misao hold her breath at Saitou´s serenity. Then the ex-Captain lifted his sword and held it horizontal.
"But none the less I will never give up these duties."

For a moment, the two figures were as still as statues, then both of them exploded into motion. Saitou´s eyes gleamed dangerously as he dashed towards his old enemy - his sword a wolf's fangs flashing to rend its opponent's body to shreds. Almost at the same time, Nanjo leapt backward, his sword in the same position and his eyes evenly gleaming.

Misao frowned at the loud, jarring sound of tempered steel clashing together. Breathlessly she observed how the two figures merged into one for a timeless instant before quickly leaping apart.

One of them would die. If only she were surer that it would be Nanjo!

But she could not fail to notice that the freak's words had touched some
essential part of Saitou. The wolf's deadliness did not solely reside in
his fighting skill, but also in his cold, calculating mind. Nanjo knew this as well for he was trained by Saitou himself, he had probably also heard the same lesson about weak points, Saitou had given her. And now he was using the wolf's feelings for his dead wife for his own purposes.

Nanjo straightened himself and lifted his gleaming katana , the icy coldness of his eyes mirroring the dark stain on the blade. "You are the one who stands no chance. Last time I lost against you but this was fifteen years ago. I've trained well, only for this one day."

Saitou´s stare was of an equal coldness as he gripped his sword tighter. "You trained only to be killed by me."

"And you fought only to loose your wife! You left her alone all the time although you knew that she wouldn't be able to live in the new era! You were the one who hired yourself out like some damn whore to the new government just because you didn't want your life to loose its sense! Have you ever thought about her life?" Nanjo snarled. "But no, all you were concerned about was the chance to play around with the Battousai!"

Saitou´s eyes flashed. Again he burst forward, faster than ever, straight out. At the same time, he lowered his speeding form and twisted his body violently, but Nanjo had seen the move beforehand.
In a blur, the former Shinsengumi slipped behind him. Saitou spun away, but not before Nanjo had managed to inflict a deep cut on his shoulder.

Misao rebelled frantically against the bars of her prison.
"Dammit, SAITOU!" she screamed. Horrified she struggled even harder to get free. ´Don't let him kill you, you idiot! Don't let him kill you. Please...´

But the wolf didn't even seem to notice her. "Why, Nanjo?" he suddenly asked while breaking into a swift lunge. "I have already asked you this when we fought fifteen years ago and you have given me no answer. Now I ask you a second time."

With a quick step Nanjo sprang out of range and chuckled viciously.
"WHY?! You want to know why? Because your damned heartlessness has destroyed me!" Misao flinched from the sheer hatred in his voice. "Would it have been so hard to speak to me like you spoke to Okita-san? Would it have been so hard to be nice to a child who admired you more than everything? Me and Tokio, you destroyed both of us! And now I'll destroy you."

"Don't be too sure of yourself." Saitou gripped his sword tighter. "Only the last blood matters."

Misao´s body tensed. Left, right, or up, what Gatotsu would Saitou use
next?

Her answer came as the wolf leaped himself high into the air, blade angled vertically down to pierce Nanjo´s head. Somehow, his opponent managed to fling himself aside, away from the curve of his blade, barely noticing the close miss since the next attack was already coming. Once again, the clearing was filled with the clashing sounds of the dancing katanas.

Misao watched breathlessly. Somehow she got the impression that these two men were not fighting in the world she knew, but in a world long vanished. It was no fight of the Meiji but of the Edo period, a fight in which time had become absolutely meaningless. Both saw only his opponent, and nothing else.

Both were excellent fighters, so much was sure, but under normal circumstances
Saitou would certainly win. Well, under normal circumstances his opponent wouldn't call him murderer of his wife like Nanjo was doing once again.

Misao´s eyes began to burn with a battlelust akin to the two fighters.
That was UNFAIR. And suddenly she felt Saitou´s lips on her mouth again and heard his words once more.

* The first thing you should have been taught when learning how to fight is to watch your adversary and find his weak point. You must train more, Weasel, or else every idiot will be able to defeat you. *

Her mouth opened. WEAK POINT! Exactly!!! When Nanjo used Saitou´s weak spot, the wolf should simply do alike.

Her mouth closed again as a smile appeared on her lips. Luckily this freak showed his weakness well enough.

"Hey!" she shouted.

They ignored her.

"HEY!"

Still no reactions.

"GODDAMIT, WILL YOU TWO BLOODY SHINSENGUMI BASTARDS LISTEN TO ME!"

Both fighters stopped in their attack.

That was better.

"You say you want revenge, Nanjo? Wanna know what you are? You are a bloody liar! The only thing you want is some of Saitou´s affection and you know damn
well that you will never achieve this goal!"

Nanjo´s eyes flashed. "You're disturbing us."

Well, freak, that's what I'm intending to do!

"Do you think that you will gain his respect just because you took some lessons in sparring?" she taunted him further. "Come on, you know that this means nothing to him! YOU mean nothing to him!"

"SHUT UP!"

"YOU´RE BENEATH HIM!"

Saitou looked from one to another, an unreadable expression on his face. Suddenly he sighed resigned as if he were dealing with two constantly misbehaving children. "Perhaps you are too green behind your ears to notice, Weasel, but I really don't need your help to win a fight against an ahou like him."

"A what?!" Nanjo hissed.

His former captain just rolled his eyes, obviously not considering the ahou worthy enough of any further words. "But then you are entirely right, so your childish attempts do not matter very much. That man IS beneath me."

The girl couldn't help but grin in response. It seemed that the Saitou she knew was back.

With a move, even faster than before, Saitou slashed out, this time not hold back by any grief or other emotions, a merciless golden light in his eyes, untameable and unbearable wild.

Misao froze, suddenly understanding.

* So that's why they call you a wolf... *

Nanjo lost his balance and Saitou made his second move with every bit of speed he could muster.

His attack broke his opponent's two handed grip on his sword. He twisted and brutally yanked the hand that was still holding the sword off too the side before striking out with one fluid movement.

Misao shrieked quietly as Nanjo´s mouth formed a perfect oval of amazement when his blood exploded upwards as if from a fount. His long thin body slumped and fell heavily to the floor, the soft black hair spreading out on the rug.

Saitou´s eyes flashed coldly. "As I said. You trained only to be killed by me."

With his last efforts Nanjo turned his head towards his killer, a smile on his face. "Nevertheless...I wanted to see you, Hajime", he whispered. "Hateful as you are...Cruel as you are...Beloved as you are...Beyond any reason and unreason. I just... wanted to see you."

Then his head dropped aside.

Saitou stared down at the dead man to his feet, an unreadable expression on his face. Then he bowed his head slowly, as if burdened by a weight far too heavy to bear even for him.

"Saitou?" Misao asked in shy manner after a long time of silence. "Are you alright?"

Gleaming amber eyes flicked back to her, still expressing nothing, then he sighed resigned. "Only you can ask such a stupid question, Weasel Girl", he remarked with infuriating coolness. "Have you ever heard about sensibility."

"LOOK WHO´S SPEAKING! YOU...", the girl began but stopped abruptly as he approached her to cut her bounds. When she was freed he took of his jacket and threw it nonchalantly over Nanjo´s dead face.

"I simply cannot stand the sight of idiots like him", he explained casually.

Misao´s eyes widened. "You simply cannot..."

She did not know whether to laugh or to cry. And suddenly it did not matter that she wanted to flatten this man to the turf most of the time; it didn't matter that he behaved like an asshole even when he was in a good mood and that she usually couldn't stand him for more then five minutes - the only thing that mattered was that this stupid story was over and that they both were still alive. Despite herself she felt tears in her eyes.

He rose an eyebrow at her sudden stillness and already opened his mouth to comment on it but before he could emerge a sound, Misao was already wrapping her hands around his neck and buried her head in the hollow between the older man's shoulder and neck. "Don't dare to say something now!" she whispered with tears in her eyes. "One sarcastic comment and I will really, I mean REALLY, kill you!"

Although not seeing his face, she could somehow feeling how a small amused smile appeared on the wolf's lips. "No sarcasm."

"That WAS sarcastic!"

He sighed. "You don't know what you want, Weasel."

"Well, idiot, that might just be because..."

She stopped in midsentence as she suddenly felt the older man's breathe near her face. "Just shut up, Weasel."

Averting his eyes, she felt a flush creeping into her face. What the hell were they doing here?!

But then...

His embrace was so warm and she did not want to let this go.

Smiling mildly surprised about herself, she closed her eyes and smiled as she cuddled herself tighter against him. Perhaps, she thought already very absent minded, perhaps even simple human warmth was something.

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So the enemy is defeated and the last chapter awaits you.
How will the tale of the wolf and the weasel end? Find out for yourself