Chapter 11

"This is nice."

"I like it here myself."

Kaoru placed a hand on the green grass and smiled. She turned to face her companion and he returned her smile, his brown hair tussling in the wind. He turned away from her and looked out on the green field. The soccer nets were pushed out like sails as the wind caught them.

"I never thought you liked high school, Neechi," Kaoru said.

Enishi smiled. "I liked you. And that made it bearable… even pleasant."

The scene shifted suddenly and they were in a glittering hall. Kaoru was in a beautiful navy blue gown, so long it swept the floor as Enishi in his tuxedo spun her around. They were smiling, dancing to music that had played long ago.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" Kaoru asked suddenly.

He looked at her. "Do you want to be?"

She paused and furrowed her brow. "I don't know."

"You can stay here," he said. "With me if you want."

She nodded slowly and looked at him, blue eyes brimming slowly brimming with tear. "It would be nice but…"

The scene shifted again and she was in Venice, sitting on the rooftop next to him. On the balcony, she could see another man clutching the railing, red hair in the breeze.

"You have to go back," Enishi said following her gaze.

"I meant what I told him," Kaoru replied. "I do love him."

"And me?"

"I will always love you," Kaoru replied, grabbing his hand. "And I will always have you here," she said, placing his hand on her heart.

Enishi's head looked down. "He's not the same now. You broke him."

Kaoru sighed. "Then I will fix him."

"It won't be easy," Enishi said, his edges slowly becoming blurry.

"I'm used to that."

"It's going to hurt," he continued slowly turning to gray.

"I know."

A ghostly hand reached out and touched her cheek. "You were too good for me," he said, his voice losing its definition. "Too good for any of us."

And he was gone.


Kaoru opened her eyes and everything screamed in protest at once. She wanted to cry out but she couldn't feel her throat. She couldn't hear anything above the pounding of her own heart.

The floor was cold or she was cold, she couldn't tell. She could barely remember what had happened. He had fired the gun while they struggled, the recoil had pushed them out of the helicopter and into the water. The explosion had sent them hurtling away, debris cutting into them. And now… they were someplace else.

Her head turned and she saw Soujirou. He wasn't smiling. He was staring at his wrist, slowly massaging a cut there and letting the blood ooze onto his arm. He turned and faced her, finally realizing she was awake. Without saying a word, his arm snapped forward and hit her temple, sending her back into unconsciousness.


Megumi stumbled into her room, the blanket across her shoulders already drenched from her hair. She let it drop to the ground and dumbly walked towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Sano followed her, almost tripping on the blanket as he entered the room. He saw the light from under the bathroom door and walked forward. Between the wood, he could make out the sound of her breathing.

"Megumi?" he said, slowly trying the knob but finding it wouldn't budge. "Megumi, open the door."

The shower suddenly turned out. A few moments later, he could feel the steam filtering through the cracks.

"Megumi, just open the door," he said. "You haven't said a word since… since…"

He put his forehead on the door and clenched his fists. "She'll be okay… you know she will. There was… no sign that she wouldn't be. I know it's been hard the past couple of days but it'll be okay. We're all here for you…"

He paused, his fists slowly unclenching. "I'm here for you," he said softly.

The lock clicked and the door slowly opened. A pale arm reached out, delicate fingers snaked forward and grabbed his collar. He didn't struggle, just followed as they pulled him inside and shut the door behind him.


Misao looked at the ceiling, her eyes wide open and threatening to overflow with tears. Her hands opened and closed by her side. Slowly she shook her head.

"No," she stated suddenly, her voice threatening to crack.

"I know," he said, his eyes closing tightly.

"No," Misao said again forcing her head to turn and look at Aoshi. "I don't believe it."

"Misao, you shouldn't think about," Aoshi said firmly. "Just sit back… Misao!"

She pushed his arm off her shoulder. "Leave me alone," she said angrily. He blinked, unused to her disagreeing with him in that way.

"If you want to mope around here," she continued, "then go ahead. I've seen Kaoru taken down by worse and still come back. I'm going to find her."

Aoshi looked at her as she tried to get out of the bed. Her legs collapsed and he barely made it there in time to catch her. She wouldn't look at him, instead chose a spot on the ground to stare at. He closed his eyes for a moment and made a decision.

Reaching down, he grabbed her legs and carried her over to a chair, sitting her down in front of a computer. He took the seat next to her and turned the briefcase to face her.

"This is our only clue," he started. "Inside were several documents but we can't be sure what they…" He paused and looked up at her. She was biting her lip, her throat threatening to choke out a sob. He reached forward and put his hand over hers, squeezing it firmly.

She nodded and swallowed back the sob into her stomach. "We should teleconference Okina in on this. We're going to need all the JIA's resources."


The door opened and Saitou walked in, holding a small parcel in his hands. Tokio turned slowly and watched him. He sat down on the bed and didn't say word, but just stared at the floor.

Tokio watched him, seeing something that no one else could, the whirling of emotions behind his eyes. There was anger at himself, shame for leaving her behind, and a sense of failure…

He didn't need to say a word. She knew that someone hadn't made it. And even if in her heart she needed to know, to make sure it wasn't Okita that had been the one lost, she knew it wasn't what he needed.

"You did all you could," Tokio said softly. "You did… what was right."

He took in a deep breath and nodded slowly. Slowly he took her hand and gave her the package. Without another wasting a moment, he headed towards the door.

She waited five minutes before he was gone before she turned her attention to the parcel. Her hands were shaking she attempted to open it, as if somehow knowing what was inside. The package fell on her lap and she willed herself not to cry. But it was hard to push back the tears as her hand touched the soft lock of brown hair.

"Okita…" she said softly, before the dam finally broke and the flood came down.


If it was cold out, he didn't care. If it was going to make him sick, he didn't care. For the first time, he found himself not really caring about anything at all. Because the moment he did, he saw her face and…

His fingers dug into the metal railing until his knuckles turned white. He could feel his palms stretching themselves to the limit as he tried to push the metal through them. He wanted it, the pain of it tearing into his skin. He wanted it to break through, let the blood gush out and cover them. It's all his hands were good for in the end, wearing blood.

"Stop it."

The command was firm, the tone firmer still but Kenshin didn't care. He didn't even turn around.

"Let go of the damn railing."

"Fuck you," came his reply.

"You're pathetic."

"Fuck you."

He apparently didn't get the chance to have three strikes. Before the last syllable died in the air, he felt a hand grind into his shoulder and he was on the ground. Hiko looked down at him, arms cross and face made of stone.

Kenshin pushed himself off the ground and turned to face his attacker. He stood up and dusted himself off.

"So are you ready to talk now?" Hiko demanded.

Kenshin's golden eyes glared at him for a moment before he leapt off the balcony and onto the street below. Hiko never jumped or let out a cry of surprise. Instead he walk to the edge and followed down after Kenshin.

"Leave me alone," Kenshin said, picking up the pace as soon as he heard Hiko landing behind.

"Feh, you were easier to deal with as a two year old throwing tantrum," Hiko said leaning across a building.

"Like you would know," he said slowing his pace. He knew it was pointless to run anymore.

"Convenient of you to forget who raised you, boy."

"And what a good job you did at it," Kenshin replied bitterly.

Hiko took in a deep breath. "Don't push me."

"Why not?" Kenshin said, throwing up his arms as he turned to face him. "Afraid you'll have to face facts that you raised a monster."

"I didn't raise a monster," Hiko replied calmly. "I raised a very confused boy. Or more accurately, I'm still attempting to raise him."

"You let go of me ten years ago," Kenshin retorted.

"No, you let go of yourself. You walked out of the family, you disappeared into the streets."

"So I should have stayed what you made me?" Kenshin demanded. "An emotionless killing machine?"

"I did NOT raise you to be that!" Hiko shouted. His voice echoed down the empty roads and rattled some of the windows.

Kenshin blinked at the anger in his voice. "You taught me how to kill," he said sullenly.

"And only the naïve believe that by not knowing how, they'll never have to. But I never taught you to hunt people without provocation. That was your choice because you believed it was the right one."

"And you never tried to stop me," Kenshin replied.

"I did not own you," Hiko retorted. "I could not force you to learn things that you refused to see. You wanted to help out. You thought the only way was to become an assassin. What did you want me to do? Would you have listened if I told you not to? Would you have stayed if I locked you in the house? What would have you had me done?"

"I don't KNOW!" Kenshin yelled back.

"And you never will," Hiko replied. "Because you don't get the chance to see the road you didn't take. You have to live with what you did."

"I do, everyday, every person, I live with that."

"No," Hiko said, his voice softening. "You don't live with that at all. You are slowly dying with it, using it to make each day excruciating and never stopping to see that life just might be good. Or at least you used to. Until that girl came into your life and…"

"SHUT UP!" Kenshin yelled. "Don't say it."

"What? That she finally gave you a little bit of life? That you actually smiled and meant it? That you were happy?"

"Was happy," Kenshin repeated. "I was happy. But that's over."

"You really are pathetic," Hiko said.

Kenshin laughed just a bit under his breath. "For letting someone like that effect me? I suppose coming from you, it makes sense. As if you could care for someone."

"No," Hiko continued. "What makes you pathetic is that you probably loved that girl more then all of them combined. But you're the only one not trying to find her."

Kenshin looked up but Hiko had turned his back. "And for your information boy," Hiko said, walking away. "I did care for someone, and I still do. No matter how big an idiot he is."


"I just don't understand what the serpent means," Misao said examining the ring. "It's the not the sign of the Valentina family."

"Does it have to have a connection," Megumi asked softly, her hair still in a towel. She was sitting on the bed, knees in her chest, cringing as Sano replied the bandage to her arm.

"It has to. The briefcase, the rings," Misao said, "even all the paperwork has it."

"When Kaoru was kidnapped, they left behind a strand of her hair, coiled up like a snake."

The group of six turned to face the new comer. Hiko smirked, wondering what had taken him so long. Kenshin took a spot against the wall and sank down.

"Tokio's kidnapping was marked in the same way," Saitou added. "But the others…"

"Megumi's was botched, she fought back," Sano said, running a hand through his wet hair. "And Misao's was our own doing."

"So it has to have a connection," Misao stated firmly.

"The snake has many meanings," Okina voice crackled from the computer. "Some religions have it eating its own tail to represent reincarnation or the repetition of the cycle of life. Others have as a source of pure evil."

"Like the Christians," Sano said. The group turned to him. "After Sayo… well, I just wanted to see what it was about. I read that it was the form of Satan, that it was responsible for the tempting the first humans into sin."

"Considering your current location, I don't think it's too farfetched to believe that the Valentina family is using that interpretation," Okina added.

"But why would the Juppongatana use it," Misao asked.

"Maybe they don't," Saitou stated. "In all the years I've known them, they never have used anything but the 10 swords as a symbol of recognition."

"So this is different," Misao said. "But how?"

"Well, the serpent was the beginning of evil," Megumi said. "What's the end?"

"The end of evil?" Misao asked.

"There isn't an end of evil," Kenshin said. "Not without an end of everything."

"Well, there's the apocalypse in Christianity too," Sano shrugged, as if it was an idea of no consequence. But for Aoshi, it apparently meant something different.

"What did they say would happen?" Aoshi asked, shuffling through the pile of papers.

"Don't know," Sano continued. "Something about seven seals… horsemen or something."

"The four horseman of the apocalypse," Aoshi stated.

"What about them?" Okina asked.

"I didn't think it was anything but… I kept wondering why the Juppongatana would be so interested in the carnival. Okina, can you get a list of all the floats that will be in the carnival."

"What are you looking for?" Hiko demanded.

"It's starting to make sense," Aoshi continued. "The virus in Vegas, the cell phone satellite in Japan, the serpents here. It's all been for one thing."

"The Apocalypse," Okina stated. "There's a float here named that and the description talks about four horsemen."

"Aoshi, start explaining things," Sano demanded.

Aoshi turned to Saitou. "Okita said that all employees of the Juppongatana had an id placed in them. We just assumed that it contained a tracking device to monitor their activities and cyanide to destroy an employee that had betrayed the family."

"The Juppongatana have been known to do that," Hiko provided.

"But what if… what if, it wasn't cyanide? What if it was something else?"

Megumi watched him as he turned to face her. "The virus," she stated.

"Yes," Aoshi replied. "Think about it, the Juppongatana has employees all over the world. If each other them is carrying the virus in their internal badges…"

"Then Shishio has an instant weapon against the world," Saitou said grimly.

"Wait," Misao broke in. "People would figure out what was going on. They'd be able to quarantine the suspected carriers. If Shishio wanted to do anything like that, he'd have to activate them all at the same time."

Misao trailed off. Her brow furrowed as she considered the words. Suddenly her eyes opened wide and she turned to Aoshi. "The satellite!" she cried and he nodded.

"Ah, details please," Sano said.

"Okay," Misao said turning to the group. "Remember when I couldn't bring a transmitter with me when Okita and I went to the Juppongatan base? They'd be looking for strange radio signals because all tracking devices have to somehow be able to report back. Radio signals are good for short distances but if you wanted to stay connected with someone worldwide…"

"You'd need a satellite network to bounce the signal around," Kenshin finished.

"Let's face it, we've shrunk cell phone to fit in our watches. There's no reason we can't have them small enough to say… fit under the skin," Misao added.

"So you're telling me," Sano said, pulling things together. "That Shishio has rigged his entire syndicate and his allies to have these devices. And inside these devices are two things, that virus that he stole in Vegas and a small cell phone device to connect it to a satellite that'll let him release the virus whenever he wants?"

"Exactly," Misao said.

"But I thought the satellite he wanted to use was sunk in Japan," Megumi asked.

"That's why he's in Italy," Aoshi said. "There was a competitor here that was doing the same thing. It's obvious he managed to use one of their satellites instead."

"Hang on," Sano interrupted standing up. "Does any one else think this is crazy? You've pretty much determined that Shishio is about to release a world wide plague. That's… that's…"

"Apocalyptic?" Aoshi finished.

"Insane!" Sano said instead.

"No one accused Shishio of being sane," Hiko added. "But he is smart."

"This is smart?" Sano exclaimed.

"Of course," Saitou replied. "If you know the virus has a cure. And you know people will be willing to pay anything for it."

"But we have the cure too," Sano replied.

"We do," Megumi said, suddenly feeling very small in her bed. "But there was a biolab in their underground compound. They probably altered it."

"And we can't alter the cure?"

"We can," Megumi nodded. "But… it will take time."

"Time the world won't have," Aoshi said. "If they have altered it, there's not telling how long it will be until the virus turns fatal. And if it's the entire world facing it at once, there won't be any choice but to give Shishio what he wants."

"Aoshi, I traced back the float," Okina's voice boomed from the laptop. "It's being run by a company that we can link to the Valentina but… we can't find out more then that."

"We'll find it," Aoshi said, standing up.

"Wait," Okina said. "If Takani-san is right and the lab is in the underground facility, we might be able to find the cure there as well."

"We'll split into teams," Hiko replied. "I will take Saitou and Kenshin and we will find the float. Shinomori and Sano will take Takani with them back to the lab."

"No way," Sano said. "Megumi is not going anywhere."

"I have to," she replied. "You won't know what to look for." He started to protest again but she shook her head. "Don't worry, you and Aoshi will be there this time."

"And I'll stay here and monitor the situation," Misao said, "keep both teams in contact with each other. There's only one thing we need now."

"Weapons," Okina interrupted. "Lots of weapons. And that's where I come in."


It hurt to open her eyes, but she knew she had to try. When she finally managed to open them, she was met with darkness. She tried to peak but her mouth was forced shut, the sticky feeling on her lips meaning it was because of a piece of tape.

But she could hear and whatever was going on, it was loud. There was banging and explosions but… but laughter and music too. If it wasn't an attack, then what was it?

"Ah, you're awake."

Kaoru's heart froze. That was a voice she recognized all too well. All the months since that day on the freighter she had had nightmares about ever having to face this day. Something moved against the back of her head and the blindfold came off. Her vision was limited to two eyes slots in what must have been a mask. She struggled a bit but found she could barely move from her position. It was a strange feeling since she was seated as if she was straddling a horse. As her vision adjusted to the light, she realized that exactly where she was.

It was a tall wooden horse with it's feet touching a man-made platform that was slowly moving down the road. The horse was as white as the fabric that ran down her body and touched the ground.

She turned her head and almost screamed behind the gag. A skeleton face smiled back at her and she knew Shishio was smiling from behind it. He wore a tattered black cloak that also fell across the back of a horse, only his was pale. In his arm was a large scythe that he let fall back to his shoulder so his neighbor could see her.

A handful of feminine fingers waved at her. Yumi, Kaoru realized grimly. Always on Shishio's right. Her mask looked like the face of someone who had almost starved to death and was just waiting for the final moment. Her own black dress made it hard to distinguish where she ended and her black horse began.

Kaoru turned away, disgusted by it all. But as she did, she came across the final actor in the macabre scenario. He turned to face her and through the eye holes, she recognized Soujirou. Only, he didn't appear to be smiling anymore despite the wicked grin on the mask he wore. He was dressed in red armor and held a huge red sword. He turned away, putting a gloved hand on his red horse and looked forward.

It was suddenly clear. All the noises weren't from a fight, they were from a celebration. She was waiting in the streets for a parade for the Carnival of Venice. But why? Was this some twisted hallucination?

"You should feel lucky that I chose to do this poetically as well as realistically," Shishio murmured from behind her. "It makes sense that the center of all my trouble should be the center of my greatest achievement."

Kaoru's forehead crunched in confusion. But his glance forced her eyes down to her wrists. Two thin lines were there, fresh from being cut open and still bleeding.

"When the time comes," he said, "you will be the first to die."

The horse suddenly lurched from under her. They were moving, out of the waiting area and on to the main street. Trapped, she could do nothing but struggle against her bounds.

"Relax my dear," Shishio said. "It's not everyday that someone gets a front seat to the end of the world."