I mean, really, do I have to keep giving the disclaimer? Everyone knows I don't own this.
*****
BLADE OF THE PAST
Chapter Seven – The Spanish Ship
Saitou very nearly growled at the children who got in front of him as he walked down the streets of Tokyo. As expected, the small ones whimpered and quickly removed themselves from his path. His cigarette gave him no comfort as he took deep breaths of smoke, trying to soothe the feelings in his chest.
Anger was there first. How could they have been so stupid as to allow this to happen? His involvement in the police nearly guaranteed the best security. It's why they'd been called to guard the port. But regardless of their precautions, the unspeakable had happened.
He was angry at having been bested by some mere assassin. And his anger grew exponentially as he narrowed down the possible assassins to one. One that he thought he'd buried a long time ago. Apparently he hadn't dug a deep enough grave.
It irked him even further that he was walking down this particular street in Tokyo, with this particular destination. Asking Himura Kenshin for help always rubbed him the wrong way. But he'd need the ex-assassin's help in tracking down this particularly slippery fighter from the old revolution.
"Himura!" he called, hardly raising his voice but aware it carried down the street to where Kenshin was crossing the bridge with the two little girls. He was holding each of their hands, with the youngest holding onto his fishing pole and the oldest hefting a bucket of what appeared to be fish.
Kenshin turned immediately, flashing a grin that further agitated Saitou with its friendly appearance. "Good afternoon to you, Saitou."
Saitou flicked his cigarette butt away, striding purposefully up to Kenshin. "I have business to discuss," he said, never one to beat around the bush. And he was especially impatient due to the weight of his problem.
"Leave Uncle Ken alone," the youngest girl said, shifting to stand a little further behind Kenshin's leg but glaring at Saitou relentlessly.
"What?" Saitou was most offended at a little girl ordering him what to do.
Kenshin looked panicked for a moment before he turned down to the little girls. "Go on home without me and see that Miss Kaoru gets the fish."
The older girl shook her head. "He may be a policeman, but he's mean Uncle Ken. He should leave you alone."
"Mean man!" the youngest chimed in.
Saitou could feel his eyebrow twitch.
Kenshin crouched before the girls and turned away from Saitou. The youngest continued to glare over his shoulder at Saitou. "Now, Ayame, take Suzume home and tell Miss Kaoru that I'll be home soon. The officer and I have some things to talk about."
"Will you be alright, Uncle Ken?" the older girl asked.
Saitou filed that tidbit of information away as he pulled out another cigarette. The girls were worried about Himura for some reason. Which meant that Kenshin might be aware of some important facts, if he was uneasy for the same reasons that Saitou was uneasy.
"I'll be fine, that I will," Kenshin said, patting each girl on the head and sending them away. He stood and turned to Saitou. "What is it?" The easy and friendly tone of his voice was gone.
"There's been a murder in the bay."
"And this involves me?"
"Not directly. You see, this wasn't just a murder. It was a massacre." Saitou dragged a match against the railing of the bridge and lit his cigarette.
Kenshin didn't move. There was no twitch or evidence of surprise. But Saitou could see it in his eyes, the haunted look of someone who'd been responsible for many massacres in his life.
"There was a boat, from a port in Spain, carrying many important diplomats and heads of trading companies. The Meiji has been working for the better part of a year to open up trading rights with Spain." He paused and took another drag off his cigarette, waiting to see how Kenshin would react to the next bit of information he had. "Everyone on the boat is dead."
Kenshin blinked. "Everyone?"
Saitou nodded and took another drag, casually offering a cigarette to Kenshin.
"From Spain?"
Saitou nodded again. "Do you know who I think it was?"
"She's dead." Kenshin's voice was deadly calm, the way it got before his eyes turned amber and he forgot all about his vow not to kill again. "I killed her."
"And I buried her," Saitou added. "But you must admit that it is quite a coincidence."
"Why did you come to me?"
"You killed her once. You can do it again."
"The Tokugawa no longer controls you, you can kill her yourself," Kenshin said, turning to leave.
"Did you know that not even the captain or crew of the ship lived? There were several children on board, and wives. All of them are now being identified and matched with the passenger list. There is one passenger unaccounted for."
Kenshin stopped a few steps away from Saitou.
"Isabelle Himura."
His hand reached down and grabbed the hilt of his sword. Kenshin didn't turn around, however.
"Why would she use your name, Himura?"
"She is dead."
"Why did she use your name, Himura?"
Kenshin let out a sigh, turning around to finally face Saitou again. And Saitou would have jumped back at the look in Kenshin's eyes if the captain hadn't been so experienced in hiding his feelings. Himura's eyes were even more haunted, even more hurt and sad than Saitou could ever have imagined.
"Did you marry her?"
"No." He closed his eyes, obscuring the hurt. "She is dead."
Saitou sighed. Himura's single-mindedness was impossible to escape. "Then someone else who knows of her is impersonating her. And if they are the ones who murdered the Spanish diplomats, then I will want you to bring them to justice."
"An assassin, as you and I were."
Saitou nodded.
"Killing the assassin will only make more assassins rise to take the job. If you work with them, then they will help you bring down the man who controls them."
With a snort, Saitou took another drag. "You are too merciful. The assassin murdered the entire boat. Over two hundred and fifty people including the crew members."
"She is dead." Kenshin said it softly, so lightly that the breeze and the call of birds in the distance seemed louder.
"What?"
He sighed again, seeming smaller somehow. Saitou frowned at the change. Himura was no longer the Battousai, but that didn't keep him from retaining the large presence of a samurai. Now, even that seemed to seep out of him, leaving nothing but a small man who'd seen too much.
"What?" Saitou repeated.
Kenshin blinked, a bit of his stronger presence coming back to his form. "I need to get home before Miss Kaoru worries, that I do."
"One more question."
"Yes?"
"Would she have been able to live?" Saitou flicked his cigarette away, annoyed that most of it had burned down without his smoking it.
"You are the one who dug her grave. Would she have been able to crawl back out of it?"
Saitou glared at Himura's form as he walked over the bridge and towards the dojo where he hid most of the day. The ex-revolutionary seemed adamant in believing that Isabelle the assassin was dead, and Saitou had to admit his own doubts at her being able to come back to life and escape from her grave.
But it was too coincidental. How many women assassins existed? Very few. How many had the skill to murder an entire ship single-handedly? Even fewer. How many could walk onto a Spanish ship anchored in Spain without drawing attention for being a foreigner? Only one that he could think of.
*****
And the plot thickens. It's getting involved, I know, and there are a lot of questions unanswered. Just trust me and you'll learn all soon enough.
mae – Hearing from you each time is great! Keep reviewing! (and good job on guessing Shinta's dad…now if you could only figure out his mom…. Hee hee, soon enough you know!)
Crystal – thanks for liking it so much! You make me want to write more and neglect my studies…
Calger459 – I know I might be telling too much of the future story, but you are so right. Kenshin never raped anyone. That's just a misconception that Shinta has (he's been lied to a lot over the years).
To all my readers - I apologize, but I'll not be able to update for a few days. I have four tests in two days (organic chemistry and physics – aka HELL – are running my life right now). Expect another update around Thursday or Friday. Gomen, but at the end of the semester things get crazy.