Chapter 3: The Hunt Begins
The next morning showed everyone gathered in Saitoh's office, with varying degrees of impatience as they waited for Saitoh to begin the discussion. Only Kenshin and Aoshi appeared calm.
Saitoh finished his cigarette and started speaking.
"It all began almost a year ago, at least the first report came in about a year ago. At first no one took any notice of it, after all, it's just a break-in, and nothing was stolen. Eventually, someone noticed that all the break-ins occurred to people by the family name of "Kamiya", and that there's always a statement from the victims claiming the intruder could vanish into thin air. That was how we differentiated this series of break-ins from other miscellaneous break-ins. The first report came from a village in the West, and following all the reports, it could be seen that the intruder, or intruders, has slowly made their way up to the East, 'visiting' the various Kamiya families along the way. In fact, I won't be surprised if every Kamiya family from the West to the East had been visited. The situation was noticed by the government about 3 months ago and since then, we have instructed every police station to keep watch at all the Kamiya family. But none of the police ever caught sight of the intruder, although a few of the watched families did report a break-in eventually. Apparently they slept like pigs and never did wake up when the intruder visited them, either that or the intruder had left by the time the police heard their cries for help" Saitoh snorted in disgust.
"Then how is it that Kaoru-dono had to face an intruder on her own and later make a report herself if police were posted at every Kamiya family?" Kenshin's soft question was laced with steel, evident anger showing.
"Because no police was posted at the Kamiya dojo where the Battousai was reputed to be staying at. We had believed that even if the intruder had broken into the dojo, you would have been able to capture him. Battousai's reputation as a ruthless killer we are all aware of, but as a ruthless heartbreaker we didn't know, hence we did not consider the possibility of you leaving the dojo. A big oversight on our part" admitted Saitoh, his hand on the hilt of his sword, as he noticed Kenshin's hand going to his sword at Saitoh's insinuation.
Aoshi stepped between them, "We are not here to watch you two fight, we are here to discuss how to catch this mysterious intruder and to find Kamiya Kaoru."
"Hey psycho cop, you still have not explained why you have linked Jou-chan to all these break-ins. From what I can see, although Jou-chan's house has been broken into, you said last night that there was no report of 'magician' vanishing into thin air in this break-in, unlike the others. So aside from the common surname, how could you be certain that the break-in was one of the series of break-ins? How do you know that Jou-chan did not really leave on a heartbreak tour?" Sano objected.
"I can't be certain as I have no concrete evidence. But note this: Since the first report there has been a report of a break-in at a Kamiya family by the intruder at least once every week, searching the entire house even if the residents discovered him. It was obvious from the tanuki's report that in her case the intruder left before he finished searching the entire dojo. Why, when before he had simply immobilized the victims and continued with his search? What makes the tanuki different? Because she is the one he's looking for and he is aware of her hidden talent? And then the tanuki disappears scarcely two days after the break-in, and since then there has been no report of any break-in at a Kamiya family. It appears very obvious to me that the tanuki is the "Kamiya" that the intruder is seeking, and the tanuki is aware of it. At least, she is aware after making the report. I doubt she would have made the report had she realized it immediately." Saitoh answered.
"You are not making sense. Why wouldn't the busu make the report if she knows someone is after her and she is in danger? She would have sought help from the Oniwabanshu at least, even if she doesn't wish to seek help from Kenshin." Yahiko objected.
"Why indeed. Why didn't she inform anyone where she is going and in fact, hid her trail so completely that neither the police nor the Oniwabanshu can find her? It seems that she has anticipated that someone would be looking for her, but friend or foe, she obviously doesn't want to be found. You tell me why, since you seem to be so certain about this," Saitoh said laconically.
There was a profound silence as everyone digested the information Saitoh had given them.
"You said that the police and the Oniwabanshu have been looking for her, so what is the status now? Also, how did you come by the conclusion that it was Kaoru-dono who had hidden her own trail when she left, and not someone else who had captured her, as suggested by Aoshi last night?" Kenshin finally broke the silence.
Saitoh and Aoshi exchanged a long glance before Aoshi reluctantly replied "The status at the moment is - nothing. We can't find anything, and that's what had us so worried. If it wasn't a serious matter as well as an urgent one, Saitoh would have quitted smoking before he's willing to come to you for help. As for the latter question, we are in odds about it. I'm keeping an open mind, but Saitoh is quite certain that Kamiya had hidden her own trail."
"Serious? Urgent" How so? Even if there is a series of break-ins by a strange fella, you yourself admitted that nothing was stolen, so how could it be serious? Also, I don't see why you guys are so urgent to find Jou-chan" frowned Sano.
"Trust the rooster to overlook the obvious," sighed Saitoh. "It is serious because the fact that nothing is stolen means that the guy does not care for materialistic and/or miscellaneous wealth, else at least a few of the family would have reported the loss of some valuables. Which suggests that whatever he is looking for is of much more significant value than the normal 'treasures'. Since we do not know what it is, we must find the tanuki for answers. As for urgent, if we cannot find her within the month, the probability of us finding her gets lower with every passing second."
"Agreed, but you still have not explained what made you so certain that Kaoru-dono had hidden her own trail, with such stunning success. Why would Kaoru-dono cut off all ties when she is a person who places much importance on friendships and emotions?" Kenshin replied.
"You still trying to kid yourself? The Battousai back in the Bakumatsu would not have asked such unnecessary questions. You yourself pointed out that the tanuki wrote letters to you guys, meaning she had decided to leave. Since we can't even find out when she left, it would mean that she had covered her trail from the very beginning when she left. As such, wouldn't it mean that the tanuki was the one who hid her own trail?" Saitoh patiently explained.
"Unless she was captured just before she could leave," Aoshi murmured.
"You still going on about that?" Saitoh replied wearily, 'If such was the case, I'm sure there would have been at least some sign of disturbance at the dojo, which there isn't. The tanuki may be nowhere near us when it comes to fighting, but not many people can overcome her without allowing her a chance of retaliation. Hence my conclusion: Kamiya Kaoru is the target of the series of break-in, and realizing it she had taken off, hiding her own trail so well that not even we could find her. I only wish that her report had came to me immediately as I requested, not 3 days after it happened. I might have been able to have a talk with her before her sudden flight. Oh well, at least I ensured the ahous who messed this up will not forget my orders from now on. So, Battousai, what's your decision?"
Everyone turned to look at Kenshin, who was staring unseeingly at his clenched fists. For some obscure reason, the fact that Kaoru was in trouble and had not asked him for help hurt him, very badly in fact. The last time anything had hurt so badly was when he thought her dead during Enishi's Jinchuu. Also, the fact that she chose to face it alone and not ask anyone for help strike a deep fear in him. Why, Kaoru-dono? What if you can't defeat the enemy? What would happen to you then….?
Kenshin's head came up with a snap "My decision should be obvious, else I wouldn't be standing here. We find Kaoru-dono as soon as possible, protect her and defeat the enemy. Since it's agreed that the matter is of extreme urgency, sessha would suggest that we get to work instead of wasting time standing here and talking."
And with that, everyone snapped to attention and started allocating work: The hunt has begun….
Author's note: Someone had asked me why Kaoru had to leave without informing anyone… I thought the answer would be obvious: she doesn't wish to involve any other people into her own problems unnecessarily. Isn't it obvious that Kaoru has an independent nature and would rather face her own problems herself instead of waiting for some knight in shining armor to rescue her? At least, that's my opinion. And before anyone flames me for wasting 2 chapters without even mentioning Kaoru's present situation, I will be going into that in the next chapter. Don't be so impatient! As usual, C&Cs are welcome at chibibuta@hotmail.com