Author's note: I know this took a long time, but due to constant failure of my PC, major editing of this chapter, and God-knows what else, all I can say is: I'm sorry *humbly grovel at readers' feet* But at least now I know better than to trust my lil brother to fix the computer. Somehow his remedies are always temporary and the stupid PC will always just die on me few days after what he termed his 'repair'. *snarl in exasperation at memories*
Anyway, enough with the crap and on with the chapter. Please note that dialogues underlined are spoken in Chinese.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything below blah blah blah.
Chapter 7: Meeting the Wolf
Time frame: 2nd day of their arrival in Japan.
Kaoru woke to sounds of birds chirping outside her windows. Stretching herself with a yawn, Kaoru glanced at the clock and was shocked to note that it was coming close to noon. It was the first time since they had decided to come to Japan that she had slept so well. Washing and dressing herself hastily, she quickly made her way down with a fear of dread. Knowing her cousin, he most probably had instructed the servants not to disturb her sleep, which meant that he's out doing something he knew she would disapprove. Kami help her, if he's out stirring trouble on their second day itself, she would make him wish he had never been born.
Two hours later, Kaoru had to concede defeat as she sink into a chair in exhaustion. She had searched the whole house and could not find him. Although she had a strong suspicion of the idiot's whereabouts, she was definitely not about to go and announce her presence to the Mibu's wolf. She could only pray. Just then, a rumble in her stomach reminded her that she had not eaten anything since last night, and that for the previous month she had not been eating properly. Resolving to handle things one at a time, Kaoru went in search of food.
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"Are you sure of this?" the Chinese Ambassador asked doubtfully.
"Trust me old friend." Long Ao replied confidently.
"But he's not called the Mibu's Wolf for no reason. Despite your garish costumes, he'll be able to see that you are no frivolous young man born of a wealthy merchant. Well you are, but not an ordinary one and I'm afraid the Mibu's Wolf might take offence at your deception." the Chinese Ambassador objected.
"Not in front of you he wouldn't. At least he wouldn't show it. Mibu's Wolf he might be, idiot he is not. Why do you think I asked you to come along? It definitely wasn't for the pure pleasure of your company, entertaining as they are." Long Ao countered, grinning impudently.
"Even if you survive the Mibu's wolf, I doubt you'll be able to survive your cousin's wrath when she wakes up and find that you have drugged her and ran off to confront the Mibu's Wolf while she's unconscious. Something you admitted that she specifically told you not to do. Old friend, don't forget I am trained in martial arts as well and while I may not be as accomplished as you, I am not that lacking as to be unable to see that your cousin had been similarly trained. It would appear that she received her instructions from you, but that she had been trained in something else as well…." The Ambassador mused.
"Sometimes you see too much, old friend. But you are right, I did teach Ye Die the basics of the Shaolin martial arts when we were young. I didn't want to mind you, girls have no business learning martial arts, but Ye Die can be very persistent and despicable when she decides she wants something. Also, I think her father used to let her play with the sword. She was bound to pick up something here and there," Long Ao shrugged.
The Ambassador chuckled. "For all that you are doing your best to be nonchalant, the fact that you had to resort to drugs to sneak away while she's unconscious suggests that your cousin's skills are not as insignificant as you claim. And don't think I have not noticed how much you deferred to her. My wife might be naïve enough to think it's due to your concern for her, but I know better my friend. You were in your defensive stance every time you talked to her. Which leads me to think that your cousin's temper may not be as mild as her namesake."
Long Ao scowled. "Laugh all you want, just pray that you never cross her. Anyway, here we are, the police headquarters. If you'll kindly have your guys blow the fanfare, we'll go and bait the Mibu's Wolf."
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Saitoh frowned as he exhaled a puff of smoke. He couldn't believe that they still could not find out anything about Kamiya Kaoru. And to think that some of her closer childhood friends are in the police force as well! It would be a downright humiliation if the Battousai came back with the girl while he couldn't even unearth any relevant information.
Just as he was contemplating on how to torture the ahous in the police force (for motivation purposes ONLY, of course), his door opened with a bang. Saitoh disinterestedly glanced at the door to observe the Chief, who was followed by two other men.
"Fujita-san, there you are. Let me introduce you to the Chinese Ambassador, Lord Chen Yi Tien, and his friend Fang Long Ao. Master Fang here is one of the wealthiest merchant in the entire China, and he has a favour to ask from you." The Chief explained as he made the introductions.
Saitoh merely nodded his acknowledgements as he studied the two men. What struck his interest was that the two men were obviously trained in martial arts, and from their ki, they were not merely trained, but quite accomplished as well. Of course the Ambassador is no way as good as himself, but he is definitely very strong, even better than that Sagara Sanosuke, although just slightly so. And more importantly, that Fang Long Ao might just be as good as himself and the Battousai. And such a man has a favour to ask from him? Saitoh arched an eyebrow as he looked at the man expectantly.
Long Ao flashed an arrogant smile typical of the frivolous, empty-headed and wealthy young fools he was trying to pass off. "It's a very simple matter, one I'm sure you'll have no problem doing, Fujita-san. You see, I have a friend by the name of "Yukishiro Enishi" who returned to Japan sometime last year for personal reasons. But since then there was no news of him and I would like to know his whereabouts. If possible, I'd like to negotiate a deal with the Japanese authorities for them to overlook his…'mistakes', which the Chief here has agreed to. But we still need to locate Enishi first. I had been advised that you were in charge of the operation involving Enishi, hence I have came all the way down here to see you first thing in the morning."
"Master Fang only arrived in Japan yesterday, and he came to see you first thing this morning. " the Chief beamingly added. No doubt he thinks that I'd be flattered to be showered wish such attentions. Arrived yesterday and in my office today, mused Saitoh, and he claimed no news of Yukishiro Enishi since his departure from China?
The same thought seemed to have struck Long Ao, as he hastily added that he had been asking around ever since he set foot on this land. Knowing that this Fang Long Ao would not be revealing anything, at least not without some appropriate encouragement which is definitely out of the question with both the Chief and the Chinese Ambassador present, Saitoh gave him a brief summary of the Jinchu Arc and informed him that no one has any information on Yukishiro's whereabouts since his decision to take a swim in the open sea, all the while maintaining a deceptively bored manner while keeping a sharp eye on Long Ao.
Wearing a perplexed expression, Long Ao innocently queried. "I was under the impression that Enishi had committed some major big-time crime. And I am rather surprised that the Japanese authorities had allowed him to just swim away apparently without further ado, not even making the effort to search for him. Is it normal for the Japanese law enforcement units to let things be if criminals run away?"
The Chief and the Ambassador started coughing at the remark, although for different reasons. The former to cover his embarrassment and the latter being simply startled by Long Ao's audacity. Saitoh narrowed his eyes. With just one remark Long Ao had just about ensured that the entire police force, and probably some from other military forces, would be stopping all current operations and concentrating on unearthing Yukishiro Enishi from this very moment. The Japanese authorities could not afford the embarrassment of further failure to locate a criminal before the representative of another country. And that's why he made the remark in the first place, Saitoh thought with grudging respect. This man is good, in some ways even better than the Battousai and Shinomori. Then again, as one of the wealthiest man in China and with apparent connections to the Chinese government and mafia, he almost has to be, considering all the politics that he is certain to face.
Nonchalantly lighting another cigarette, Saitoh coolly interrupted the Chief's stuttering explanations, well aware that Long Ao was not paying any attention to it in the first place, his attention being focused on Saitoh himself, like a warrior watching his opponent. "No it is not normal. We have not been looking only because we are no longer interested in him, since we are certain he would not be committing further crimes, and because his brother-in-law requested so. However, since I assume the Chinese Ambassador will request so, we will hunt him down for you. If that is all, you can leave now and I will contact the Ambassador once we have any news of Yukishiro Enishi."
Long Ao smiled, and maintaining his façade of a frivolous wealthy merchant, he bowed flippantly and left with a facetious remark on how certain he is that it wouldn't take the police much time to locate Enishi for him.
Still pretending even though you know that I am well aware of your deadliness? Saitoh thought with some amusement. His day had turned for a better unexpectedly. No doubt the tanuki case is still as vexing and as urgently serious, but he could do with a little distraction and that Fang Long Ao is more than an adequate distraction. Saitoh felt his lips stretched by a feral grin as he discreetly left the office to trail him.
"What were you thinking back there?!? You might just as well have thrown your gauntlet at him! What makes you think that he would not decide to do a little research on you or just make life difficult for you?" Ambassador demanded.
"Nothing. I knew that I could not fool him the instant I saw his eyes. Did you notice the way he studied us? He was well aware of our accomplishments in the martial arts just by studying our movements." Long Ao pointed out admiringly.
"Then why did you have to further provoke him? Don't forget you promised Ms Ye Die not to cross the Mibu's Wolf!" The Ambassador reminded Long Ao sharply.
"I promised not to cross him and cross him I didn't. I merely enlisted his necessary assistance in locating Enishi. It's not my fault if he's the predatory bastard he is, is it? I can't think of anything that I have said or done that could have given him offence, as I nearly killed myself playing the part of an empty-headed, frivolous and yet charming young man to the core just to satisfy my cousin. It must have worked like charm, if he is escorting us to ensure our safety." Long Ao laughed gaily, ignoring the Ambassador's startled exclamation as he looked around trying to locate Saitoh.
This turned out better than I hoped. Looks like I might get to play with the Battousai as well as the Mibu's Wolf after all. And without having to break my promise to Kaoru-chan, Long Ao thought gleefully as he made his way back to the mansion to where Kaoru was waiting for him.
Time Frame: 2 days following Long Ao's encounter with Saitoh. Venue: Saitoh's office.
The Kenshin-gumi had returned from their hunt for the pilgrim and is currently explaining the same to Saitoh, who was disgruntled by the interruptions of his game. But he had to acknowledge that the case had taken a serious and grave turn.
"And so now the only clue is dead?" he asked the desolate group.
Kenshin nodded grimly, then recounted the encounter to Saitoh….
It was nearing sunset when they finally tracked down the pilgrim who had handed Kaoru's note to them. It sounded simple enough, but to find 1 wandering specific pilgrim, without any idea who he is and where he's heading is a feat that no one in his sane mind would attempt. It was to their credit that they had persevered and finally managed to track him down despite many false leads and meeting many wrong pilgrims.
The pilgrim was meditating under a waterfall, doing some obscure training to focus his will when they finally found him. Misao wanted to 'wake him from his sleep' immediately, but was prevented by Aoshi, who had enormous respect for meditation, his own or otherwise. The others had protested and even Kenshin was hard-pressed to fight his impatience to get answers immediately from the pilgrim after more than a year of searching and anxiety. But Aoshi merely stared at them impassively until the entire group conceded, albeit grudgingly. After what seemed like hours, the pilgrim finally opened his eyes and approached them.
There was a short confusion initially as the pilgrim vehemently denied ever delivering a letter on behalf of a lady. After some 'reminders' from Misao (by waving her kunai as she yelled at the pilgrim) the pilgrim remembered soon enough. After all, as he put it so wryly, who could ever forget meeting such a genki weasel? (Here Aoshi had to personally refrain Misao from inflicting fatal violence on the pilgrim).
"…. So we would really appreciate if you could advise us where did our friend go to, or where she was when you met her." Kenshin politely concluded his explanations.
The pilgrim frowned. "But I've never met her!"
Flashing her kunai, Misao growled "Not this again! You just admitted to handing the letter to us, so how can you not meet her?!?"
"Aa, I did hand you the letter, but it was handed to me by a young man, and from all accounts your friend seems to be a lady, or am I mistaken?"
There was a stunned silence, as they tried to digest this information. Young man? Kenshin and Aoshi drew in a sharp breath with a hiss, and their expression appeared identical: furious, but at themselves. As they closed their eyes and struggled with their inner battles, the rest could only stare at the 2 older men in bewilderment.
"Kenshin…?" Yahiko finally asked timidly, Sano noted. The rurouni had grown increasingly withdrawn and even cold over the year. Nowadays he had stopped oroing at every single thing. Heck, he had even stopped smiling and talking to anyone. No wonder the kid is scared.
Kenshin did not answer for a moment. Finally he opened his eyes and answered flatly. "Kaoru-dono disguised herself as a man when she left, which explained why no one witnessed her departure. She most probably left the dojo already dressed as a man. We had… overlooked this possibility, although I can't understand why. It's a common practice back in the Bakumutsu. Assassins used to disguise as women to carry out their assassinations, and some of them were even quite beautiful. We were only looking for a pretty teenage girl, and totally neglected to investigate on the other categories. At least now we know how Kaoru-dono managed to stage her total disappearance."
"It's not that simple, Himura. It is not in my nature to be so… careless," Aoshi said the last word with obvious distaste. "But it did not occur to me, and never would in a million years, to consider the fact that she would resort to such practices. Our belief of her as a total innocent, too kind and generous for her own good, was too concrete for us to even allow a possibility that she might even be aware of such underhanded practices. Which would explain our oversight. But… I can't forgive myself. I KNEW she was not the innocent girl-next-door, but yet I neglected the possibility of such underhanded methods from her. I can't discern whether she's an extremely talented actress to be able to portray such monument of innocence and purity when she's not, or…" Aoshi's voice trailed off when he could not find the words to express his frustration.
"I do not know her as well as you do, but the lady, which I gathered by now IS actually your lady friend disguised as a bishounen, is certainly not an actress. Her purity, or kindness as you called it, is the essence of her soul, and as unaccomplished a monk as I am, not even I can miss that. I have never seen a soul more innocent and pure than hers. However she did seemed quite desolate when I met her, and I did joke to myself that a guy with such beautiful looks and haunted expression would have to bury himself under a mountain to prevent being ravished by the women."
"Bishounen?" asked Yahiko and Sano with open mouths.
"Aa, even that red-headed bishounen would be hard-pressed to outmatch her." The pilgrim solemnly replied, but could not quite manage to suppress the impish grin.
Ignoring the others as Misao excitedly vowed to get Kaoru to show her the disguise when the find her, Kenshin asked the pilgrim "Sessha would appreciate information on her whereabouts."
The pilgrim's expression turned grave. "Guess I better tell you everything. I was passing through Yokohama after a visit to an old friend when the young man, sorry guess I should say lady, stopped me. She requested that I deliver 2 letters, 1 to Tokyo and the other to Kyoto, on her behalf as she has other urgent matters to attend to. I agreed, because I know that it could not be anything bad, and because she appeared very troubled. I had hoped that I could lessen her burdens by agreeing to such small favours. After all, it is the teachings of Buddhism that all living things should practice goodwill and kindness to one another. After receiving the letters, I left Yokohama and journeyed straight to Tokyo to an Akabeko restaurant, and thereafter to Kyoto's Aoiya. Where the lady might have gone, I'm afraid I really have no idea."
The jubilant mood of the group immediately changed to disappointment again. This is their ONLY clue, and they can't believe that he does not know where Kaoru is!
"Sir, please think again. Did she not mention anything about the 'urgent matter' she had to attend to? Or where she might be going?" Kenshin pressed.
The pilgrim frowned and closed his eye as he tried to recall. Before he could say anything though, Aoshi suddenly leaped high onto the branches of the trees surrounding them. A few seconds later, there were yells as a few men dressed totally in black fell out from the trees injured.
Misao, Sano and Yahiko immediately went into fighting stance, only to notice that Kenshin had disappeared as well. Looking around frantically, they noticed him further out in the woods fighting more guys, all dressed in black. Watching the 'black guys' flicking in and out of their sight, they could only watched in dazed stupor as Kenshin and Aoshi battled the group of guys on their own.
So absorbed were they in the fight that no one noticed a figure creeping out from the stream behind them. It was only when they heard a muffled yell that they turned to see the pilgrim struggling with yet another black guy. Angered, Sano and Yahiko immediately ran towards them. Only to see the black guy sneer, and closing his eyes, muttered some incantations. Sano and Yahiko continued to run towards them, and Misao threw her kunai at the man who had held the pilgrim captive. But before the kunai could even reach him, the guy opened his eyes on the last word oh his incantation and all of them were thrown back by an invisible force. Slamming into trees, and in Sano's case a huge rock, they were knocked unconscious.
Seeing the situation, Megumi immediately started treating Sano's injuries, since he had knocked his head against solid rock and was bleeding profusely. Screaming loudly, she yelled at Kenshin and Aoshi to save the pilgrim.
Hearing Megumi's shout for help, Kenshin finished the last enemy by thrusting the enemy's sword through his shoulder and pinning him to a tree. Not bothering to check on the enemies, Kenshin immediately ran after the pilgrim and his captor, who has disappearing and re-appearing in odd leaps and jumps. It appears that being weighed down with an extra burden, the enemies could not disappear as freely as normally. Using his God-like speed, Kenshin sped after them relentlessly and knowing Kenshin's pursuit, the enemy tried desperately to shake Kenshin off his trail.
Finally, after close to an hour's pursuit, Kenshin managed to overtake them. Snarling, the enemy closed his eyes once more in a desperate attempt to call forth his power. Not waiting for him to even begin his incantation, Kenshin slammed his sword into the man, causing him to fall onto the ground in a heap.
"Give it up. I do not know the nature and extent of your powers, but I can sense that your ki is very weak. You will not be able to call forth your powers under such circumstances. Our 1 year's stalemate has finally come to an end, and you will tell me all that you know. Why don't you start by telling me who are you, what are your objectives, what do you want from Kaoru-dono and where is she, although I doubt you can answer the last question." Kenshin stated coldly, violet eyes that have turned increasingly cold and hard over the past year now gleaming gold.
Looking around desperately and seeing no way out, the man snarled. "I'd rather die than betray our Sacred Leader to despicable murderers like you, Battousai. But even if I die, I'd die making sure you won't be able to find that bitch!" Before Kenshin could react, the man activated the bomb he had hidden in his hand. Noticing the telltale flick of the wrist, Kenshin threw himself into the nearby stream just before the explosion. Finally, when the explosion has died down, Kenshin emerged from the water only to find the dead and quite decapitated bodies of the man and the pilgrim…
"..and so we are now back to square one." Kenshin concluded.
"That's not quite exactly correct, Himura. While you were away, I tried to question the survivors. As you know all of them chose to die rather than tell us anything, but they did reveal a few things before dying." Aoshi corrected Kenshin.
Kenshin frowned, "You didn't tell me this."
"…aa, you weren't ready." Aoshi acknowledged the mild rebuke. Ignoring Kenshin's hard stare, Aoshi continued.
"As you know, the few captors all chose death rather than reveal anything. But one of them did scream out upon his dying breath that no matter where the Highest Priestess run to, their Sacred Leader would find the Essence of Life, and upon the Highest Priestess's soul would a new ideal world be built, where their souls would be able to reincarnate to enjoy life as it should be. Whatever that means have yet to be deciphered, but I had given orders that research be done into it." Aoshi concluded, and closed his eyes to the deafening silence which greeted his revelations.
"Äno… Aoshi-sama?" Misao asked uncertainly, and seeing Aoshi open his eyes to look at her, she continued hesitantly. "But… but it sounds as if Kaoru… as if Kaoru is the Highest Priestess they are talking about…" Misao's voice trailed off when she saw Aoshi's confirmative nod. Only to continue in a rush. "Then what do they mean that a new world will be build open her soul? Are they going to kill Kaoru?" Misao asked in a quivering voice as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. The hiss of indrawn breath at the last query was thunderous.
Aoshi, keeping a wary eye on Kenshin, whose face was obscured by his bangs as he kept his face carefully downcast although he could not hide his clenched fists, replied "As I said, the meanings are not clear, be it their phrases or the enemies' intentions. But I had ordered the Oniwabanshu to look into it." Again, silence ensued.
"What about the police? What have they uncovered?" asked Aoshi.
"Lots. We know that she's the only child, that her mother died when she was young, that she's a tomboy since infant with a passion for swordfighting, that she's undoubtedly the ringleader among the kids during her childhood and a real terror for fighting against injustice even back then. And from all accounts her father had to literally beat her into submission to start wearing a kimono when she reached the age of 12. Her life is so ordinary that I'm wondering whether we are all after the wrong girl or whether the police are just plain incompetents. And some of her childhood friends are in the police force as well." Saitoh snorted in disgust.
"Childhood friends?" Kenshin's head snapped up, and at the same time Misao and Yahiko exclaimed "Beat her into submission to start wearing a kimono?"
Just then a young policeman rushed into the room.
Saitoh just pointed towards him, "Ask Tsumura over there, he's one of her closer childhood friends and because of that he's been transferred here to help on this case."
Tsumura blushed from the scrutiny he received from the Kenshin-gumi.
"Is it true? Kaoru's father had to beat her into submission to wear a kimono?" Yahiko asked eagerly.
"Hai. Back then Kaoru-chan was a real tomboy. In fact, she went around wearing her gi and hakama all the time, and since Kamiya-sensei is always too busy to really take her into hand, she grew up as a pseudo boy. In fact, strangers invariably thought she was a boy and even the neighbours have all but forgotten that she's a girl. But when she reached her 12th birthday, Kamiya-sensei decided that it's time for her to start behaving like a girl and ordered her to wear a kimono. But Kaoru-chan… well, let's just say that it was the first time we saw her disobeying her father, and Kamiya-sensei had to conduct an object lesson on obedience at the dojo. It was a sight we'd never forget." Tsumura shuddered. "But of course the transformation was shocking to say the least. It was like seeing a beautiful butterfly emerge from the cocoon."
As the crowd fell silent to digest this interesting piece of information, Aoshi spoke up.
"Aside from her cross-dressing, is there any other thing unusual about her?"
"Cross-dressing? Sir, you'd better really pray she never gets to know about what you just said, she's has no scruples when it comes to whacking and disabling people." winced Tsumura.
"Answer the question, Tsumura." ordered Saitoh.
"Hai. Kaoru-chan herself is unusual. Trying to run a dojo on her own, inviting virtual male strangers to live at her dojo, running around picking fights, and Kami knows what. But aside from her eccentric character, her life is pretty normal. Just a girl-next-door kind, if you know what I mean." Tsumura answered with a salute.
"Except that this girl-next-door has disappeared while a bunch of mysterious people seems to be after her. In fact, they are so keen on getting her that they even break into the police station." Saitoh remarked sardonically. "And while you're here why don't you tell me what you're here for?"
At this, Tsumura came to attention with a salute.
"I almost forgot sir! We, that is Hideki and I, we just remembered about Kaoru-chan's cousin Ryu-kun! We were just reminscising about our childhood and how Kaoru-chan would always get into fights with the older and bigger bullies and even at times the yakuza, and that how she would be dead if not for Ryu-kun to always bail her out of trouble. That's when we remembered that she had a cousin, whom we always called 'Ryu-kun'. Unfortunately that's all we can say because, well, Ryu-kun himself is a bit of mystery. We only know that his mother was sister to Kaoru-chan's mother, and hence they would occasionally visit. However the last time he was seen was about 9 or 10 years ago. So where he is, what his full name or even actual name is I'm afraid we can't tell. But we are fairly certain that if Kaoru-chan had gotten into trouble again and needed help, she is almost certain to run to him. Always had done that and most likely always will. The cousins have always been sweet on each other, if you know what I mean. Ryu-kun would always pamper Kaoru-chan and allowed her to act on her every whim of fancy, and Kaoru-chan would always run to Ryu-kun when she needs help, or even when she just wants comfort or company." Tsumura informed with a cheeky grin, blissfully ignorant of the death threats emanating from the glares of the Kenshin-gumi.
"And it took you so long to come up with the only relevant information that we have collected so far?" Saitoh asked with an arched eyebrow. "And why has no one else came forward with this information?"
Tsumura fidget shamefully as he answered. "Not many people are aware of Ryu-kun's existence. He doesn't mingle with the people during the occasional visits and his parents are even worse, staying cooped in the dojo. We used to speculate that Ryu-kun would do the same if not for Kaoru-chan's penchant for getting into fights and needing his protection. Add to the fact that he had not been seen for the past 9 nine years… well, not hard to see why people forget, Sir."
Saitoh snorted in disgust. "Go and find Hideki, and I want the 2 of you to go through every cobwebs in your brains and remember everything about this 'Ryu-kun' that you know, or don't know. If it's not too taxing on your brains, try to find something useful like names, addresses, descriptions, occupations and the such. And I want the report by tomorrow morning 9am sharp. Is that clear?"
"Yes Sir! We'll go about it immediately, Sir." Tsumura left the room with a sharp salute.
"Ahou." Saitoh muttered, then looked at the Kenshin-gumi. "Well? You've heard all there is to hear, and the rest will only be ready tomorrow morning. Why don't you come back then, hopefully with more information on those gibberish of a dead man?"
Before anyone could take offence at Saitoh's method of asking guests to leave, Kenshin spoke up, "And what will you be doing in the meantime?"
Saitoh exchanged a long cool glance with Kenshin, and sardonically replied. "I didn't know you were so concerned with my life, Battousai."
"I'm not, but there's a… predatory air about you, a suppressed excitement and… playfulness if you will, that I'm certain has nothing to do with this case….and you are definitely in a very good mood, otherwise the poor kid would have received a harsher lashing on their late report" Kenshin replied.
"Unlike you, I have other responsibilities, and I will not neglect them for a single case. Now if you don't mind, get out of here. I have a dragon to hunt." Saitoh could not quite keep the feral grin away as he thought of Fang Long Ao.
Kenshin shared a raised eyebrow with Aoshi on Saitoh's intriguing remark, but could only shrug and leave the police station with the rest, since it was certain that Saitoh does not intend to divulge more.
Watching them leave, Saitoh thought to himself. Yukishiro's brother-in-law you might be, but that Fang Long Ao is MY prey. I wonder what other tricks he has up his sleeves, Saitoh chuckled as he remembered the game they had played in the past 2 nights….
Owari
Author's declaration: *hide under table to avoid thrown weapons.* I can't help it, the plot just refuse to go the way I want it to. But next chapter will be better and faster. I swear.
Author's plea for help: I have received many comments on my erroneous grammar and tenses. Unfortunately most of the time I'm not even aware if I am making a mistake. I simply can't tell right from wrong, and although I have tried my best on this draft, I am not too confident of the results. If any kind soul or any reader infuriated with these mistakes are kind enough to proof-read my drafts for me in future, please contact me at chibibuta@hotmail.com of course, the above email can be used if you wish to send any C&C or flames ^_^