Disclaimer: Watsuki Nobuhiro and a whole lot of other people that do not include myself own Rurouni Kenshin. I'm just borrowing them because a character I came up with when I was nine started to jump up and down in my head insisting to be allowed to play with them. So please don't sue me. I'm broke.

Summary: Kenshin's past comes back to haunt him and a new danger starts to hunt in Tokyo.

Rating: R, swearing, death, murder, blood and all around nastiness.

Author's note: Sorry it's been so long. Even though I know what's supposed to happen in each chapter writing them seems to be like moving through molasses, slow and rather sticky. Hope this is okay.

A KILLING MOVE

By COLLEEN

Chapter 16

The killer watched eagerly as his two game pieces approached the next checkpoint. He readied a kunai, preparing to use it to set off the next trap. He glared at the small knife; not very happy about having to use it as it lacked a certain elegance. He'd only started to put this snare together a couple of days ago and hadn't had the time to finish it the way he would have liked. Ah well, this set piece was just too good not to use even if the trigger mechanism wasn't ready to go.

He wondered if they would survive it.

He hoped so; he was really looking forward to killing Battousai. The man was small enough that if he was careful he might be able to split him into two equal pieces. He hadn't been able to do that to an adult yet, only children.

Of course that would still leave Inspector Fujita.

The man was making him curious and he was beginning to regret not following his earlier instincts about creating a separate game for the policeman. It seemed there was much to learn about him. It was obvious now that the he was more than he had thought him to be. Especially considering that Battousai kept calling him by another name.

Yes, if the inspector survived the tree he would have to remove him from the rest of the game, maybe save him for a little fun after. It would give him the opportunity to learn about him while satisfying his curiosity. The more he thought about it the better the idea sounded. He'd never tortured anyone before, killed yes but afflicted pain for pain's sake, no. Of course, he was always willing to learn new things.

And it would be fun.

************

Kenshin looked up at the one of the largest trees he had ever seen inside a city. The old maple was huge and despite its age was heavily leafed. It was with some difficulty that he was able to make out the yellow flag, nearly hidden by the night shaded green of the leaves around it.

Himura didn't even bother to look over at Saitou before he started to climb. The other man took up a guard position at the trunk of the tree and waited. Climbing had never been a problem for the smaller man but he took his time with it, the last attempt to reach a flag very fresh in his mind. His ribs, while not broken were definitely bruised where the barrel had slammed into him. He could ignore the pain and the rapid stiffing of his muscles however further injury, such as a fall from a very tall tree, would not be welcome.

The trip up took about three times longer than it normally would have since he had to keep a wary eye out for traps along the way. When he finally reached the flag he was careful to make sure that removing it from the tree limb it was tied to wouldn't set anything off. He reached over and very gently pulled on one of the string's ends, undoing the simple bow that held the two strands together. The piece of cloth fell into his hand and he quickly folded it and placed it in his sleeve with its brother. He let out a small sigh of relief and moved to start the climb back down when a small breeze rustled through the old maple's leaves.

Some of them chimed.

He raised his eyes to the higher branches and saw that the tree's fullness was partially manmade. Painted a green to match the foliage around them a variety of knives and swords hung from the limbs. Some, mostly the larger ones, were strung here and there, waiting for whatever it was that would trip their release so they could fall down on the unsuspecting in a deadly shower. Others, those about the size of a kunai, seemed to be spring loaded onto branches that were obviously dead. These were apparently designed to rain a circle of destruction for several metres around the tree.

Kenshin looked down to see Saitou looking up at him. The other swordsman had obviously noticed the change in his ki when he'd found the new trap. Kenshin doubted that the policeman could see what the problem was from where he stood so he motioned to him to move away from the maple as he started down the tree.

Saitou had only moved a couple of steps when he heard the air slice open by a flying blade. His eyes shot wide when the snap of a wire being cut heralded a shower of flying daggers.

The trap had let go with a vengeance and the wolf drew his sword and used it to bat away the first wave of knives. He looked up when he heard another set of wires snapping and then he was running backwards as fast as he could while using his sword to protect himself from a hail of blades.

As for Kenshin, when he'd first seen the trap he'd noticed that there was only one way that a person would be able to avoid both the smaller spring-loaded weapons and the larger falling blades.

Even before the small sound of the wire being cut had faded the rurouni had plastered his body to the tree trunk, wrapping his arms around it the best he could.

The blades let go in three waves.

The first whistled past him, doing little more than ruffling his hair as they went by. He could hear the noise of leaves and small twigs being pruned from the maple as the weapons fell.

The second wave sliced branches from the old tree. Where the limbs proved too thick the blades were buried in the wood, splitting it here and there. Two of the blades went through each leg of Himura's hakama, effectively pinning him in place for the third wave.

Kenshin fought the inclination to pull out the two short swords that had him trapped. The need to turn around, to see what was happening, it was almost physical, but he didn't dare move, not even to free himself. With his face and body pressed up against the tree he had a much smaller profile, it was the only chance he had of making it through this alive.

The third wave started by giving Kenshin's hair a slight trim. More blades pierced through the hems of his pants, almost dragging them from his hips.

Then they got closer.

Kenshin felt air on his back as cloth parted under the edge of the blades. Pain followed as the next swords bit into his skin leaving long shallow cuts along his back and left arm. He was starting to think that leaping from the tree would have been a better choice when the third wave came to an abrupt end.

Kenshin continued to hug the tree for several moments after, waiting to make sure that there wouldn't be a fourth wave. He sighed with relief when no more blades fell. One more round of knives would probably have been the end of him. He felt at the wounds he had taken. They weren't bad enough to worry about for now so he set to work freeing his hakama from the many blades that had them anchored to the tree.

Saitou stood at the edge of the knife line and watched Battousai. He smirked a bit at the sight then turned his attention to his surroundings again. The devastation was amazing. The knives and swords had sliced a good deal of the tree into kindling and the smaller blades had etched a path of destruction for several metres around it. The place was now a small field of deadly metal, as the dead animals and birds that had lived in and around the tree could have attested. The maple, the blades, the dead creatures, all of them made for a surreal image, like a still life painting of some psychotic's pincushion. Saitou shook his head at the thought and reached into a pocket for his cigarettes, only to find it empty.

Kenshin came down the tree just as carefully as he had gone up. He wasn't worried about traps; rather the problem was that the tree was now very fragile. Split wood and missing branches made for a perilous trip but he eventually made it to the ground and carefully picked his way through the maze of weapons that littered the earth.

When he reached Saitou's side he noticed the wolf staring morosely at the ground. Kenshin looked down and saw a box of cigarettes lying in the dirt. The package was cut almost in two and Himura looked up to see that the pocket Saitou usually carried it in had been sliced open. Other than that the policeman seemed to have survived the encounter without a scratch.

Saitou gave an annoyed grunt and bent down to pick up the package. He opened the box and poured the cigarette halves out onto his hand. One lonely smoke had managed to escape being mangled and he put it in his mouth, dumping the broken ones to the ground. He lit the cigarette and took a deep pull on it. "I believe I have had quite enough of our game player."

Kenshin jumped a little when Saitou spoke, watching the policeman with his cigarettes had been almost hypnotic. "Ah, I would have to agree, that I would."

"Good, then I believe it is time to split up," the wolf told him.

Kenshin nodded his agreement. With the two of them separated the murderer would have no choice but to follow one of them. This would give the other the chance to track down the killer, hopefully before anymore traps could be set off.

With no other words between them Kenshin continued on the path marked out on the map. Since the game had been meant for the smaller man it was most likely that the killer would continue to follow him.

Saitou stood there smoking. He'd let the rurouni get a good head start and then....

Then he'd make the game player play his game.

************

The two ghosts stared in shock at the aftermath of the tree trap. The Sea Green Lady could feel death lying over the field like morning mist over water. She made her way to the battered tree and reached out to touch it. She could feel its pain, could feel the fact that the damage was too much for it.

It was dying.

She backed away from it, saddened and angry. She'd always liked trees, which was rather odd since she had been crushed to death by one, but then, that hadn't been the trees fault. This one had its own spirit. It had wanted nothing more than to make a safe world for the creatures that had lived around it. To use the maple like this was like booby trapping a nursery. The tree was actually crying. Its anguish was too great to hold in at having been used as a weapon, at having been made to hurt it's children.

While she didn't think it would help with the tree's pain much The Lady pressed both palms against the trunk and gave the maple her promise that the one that had done that would not be allowed to continue to cause injury. She moved away from the tree and joined Zenko were he was standing in front of Saitou. A little further down the road Battousai could still be seen as he walked away.

"Why the hell is he just standing here?" Zenko asked.

The dead girl shrugged. "I guess they decided to split up," she said, her mind trying to place where she had seen Saitou before. She was sure that she had seen him with the rurouni but some of the events that had occurred the first few days after she'd found Kenshin were still a little foggy in her mind. She was sure that the two men knew each other, she just couldn't quite remember how.

"Do you know who he is?" She asked the younger ghost.

Zenko shook his head, more at the policeman than as an answer to her question. "He's in charge of the murder investigation. Other than that I don't have a clue." He looked down the road towards the rapidly disappearing rurouni. "I'll take the redhead, you take cigarette man," he said.

The dead gangster took off down the road before the girl could say anything. She sighed and looked at the policeman with something less than enthusiasm. She'd give him five minutes, if he hadn't moved by then she would go off after Zenko and Himura.

The man finished his cigarette and then ground it out under his foot before choosing a travelling direction. The Lady sighed again and followed, annoyed that his time hadn't been anywhere close to up.

************

The killer was so excited he was having trouble breathing. Inspector Fujita was incredible. Never would he have believed that someone other than himself could be so skilful with a sword. He wasn't even sure that Battousai would be that good.

This changed everything. Originally he'd intended to remove the inspector from the game and save him for later. He'd wanted to play a new game with the policeman, one where the man was helpless in his grasp and writhing in pain. Actually he still wanted to play that game but first he wanted to break the man by beating him in a duel. If he did it right he could torture him later. The man would hurt all the more for having been defeated before they began.

And maybe he'd finally get to know why Battousai kept calling Inspector Fujita san Saitou.

End of Chapter 16