disclaimer: RK doesn't belong to me

~*~*~Prologue~*~*~

The Battousai looked at the inn with narrowed eyes. He could see that that place was not going to very appealing to him. If he didn't have a job to do, he wouldn't be spending his time here where attention would be drawn to him. "Himura, let's go inside and drink some sake."

He didn't answer at all. Kenshin Himura entered the inn without a word to any of his companions. As the others drank sake and laughed at each others' lame jokes, he sat in the corner of the room, watching the scene without any facial expressions. Kenshin had his sword in his right hand, concentrating on the sounds outside the inn. He had a feeling that someone was watching and waiting outside for some sort of right time. This was the reason why he didn't drink in the first place. If he drank, his senses would be dulled. That would leave his defenses down; a dangerous thing to do at times like these.

As the others fell into a deep sleep on the wooden table top, Kenshin got up from the position he had been sitting in and started to move towards the doors. He tightened his grip around the hilt of the sword and then drew it out as men and women wearing black clothing and masked leapt at him. "The Battousai must die!"

Kenshin used his reflexes to dodge their swords and then as they slowed down in surprise at his skills he took his advantage. He used his speed and his skills to kill them. Within minutes, about twenty people lay dead or fatally wounded. One woman spat at him. "You will pay for all of the people that you have killed. Our master is still out there and he will destroy you and those you care about when he feels that it is the right time."

He turned his head away as the woman's head fell back, no strength left to keep it up. Kenshin looked at the blood on his blade and then at the bodies that lay a few feet away. He said to the dying woman, "Your threat is meaningless to me."

Kenshin knew that he would never have a family. This was his work and he was not going to settle down anytime soon. His life had little meaning to him. The woman's threat meant nothing to him. There were many who wanted him dead. He had managed to kill them all before they had managed to kill him. There was no point in worrying about the master of this plan. Had the man been skillful, he would have managed to train his warriors better. The woman said in a shaky voice, "The Fuji Clan will have their vengeance against you, Battousai. Just you watch."

"I'll be here to watch. But I'm certain that you won't be there to watch it happen," Kenshin said in a cold voice that would have sent shivers down anyone's spine.

He turned and walked away, leaving behind the mess that he had created without even a little remorse.