Title: Tears of Blood Author: Kenshin's Radish

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Rurouni Kenshin. That's only wishful thinking.

Chapter 4: Sorrow's Good-bye and the Past

A few short hours later; Chou, Kenshin and Sanosuke arrived at the police station in Chiba where they were to meet Saitou. Breathless and exhausted they were shocked to see the enormous, smoking hole in the side of the jail.
"Saitou-san!" cried Chou as he ran into the jail only to see his boss crumpled in a bloody mass on the jail floor. Kenshin and Sano followed him.
Saitou was still alive, but barely. Chou rolled him over onto his back and ripped off his own shirt to press against the wound in Saitou's abdomen.
"What happened? Where are Yahiko and Kaoru-dono?" asked Kenshin urgently.
Saitou looked at Kenshin and in a weak, whispery voice he croaked, "Soi.chiro. Miya.zawa. He.has.them." He paused to cough and blood spewed all over the front of his uniform, "He.wants.Battousai," Saitou's eyes began to glaze, "I.tried. I.failed.at.destroying.all." he began coughing violently, ".evil." His whole body began convulsing in agony as he took his last breath and died.
"Saitou-san!" wept Chou. His mentor and boss was cold-heartedly murdered and now he had nowhere else to go. Kenshin paled. Saitou, even though he was his enemy in the Bakumatsu, he was a good fighter, as well as a loyal friend in the Meiji era. He thought he'd never see him go. Sano just sat there in stunned silence. Saitou had escaped death before, why didn't he now?
Chou looked at Kenshin and Sanosuke. "Go!" he ordered. "Go find Soichiro Miyazawa. He has Kaoru and Yahiko. They are bait for you Kenshin. You are the one he's after, the Battousai. You must go before it's too late!" Kenshin nodded somberly and with that he and Sanosuke fled as the sun came up.
"Kenshin, who is this Soichiro Miyazawa guy? Is he another hitokiri?" asked Sanosuke once they were out of Chiba.
"No. He fought in the Shinsengumi along with Saitou. They were in the same group. He took Saito's motto, 'Destroy All Evil' to heart and was one of the most aggressive. At first people thought he'd become another Jin-eh but he suddenly backed off after awhile. After.she.died, I was given orders to kill Kintatsu Miyazawa, Soichiro's older brother. He was a leader in the Shinsengumi and had led several battles against the Imperialists, killing many. It was necessary that he died lest there be more Imperialist bloodshed.
"It was a beautiful spring day much like yesterday and I followed him all day, waiting for the perfect moment. He was busy, always surrounded with other Shinsengumi. I could not carry out my task until he was alone, since I wanted to keep the killing to a minimum and to keep my identity hidden. So shortly after he went into a bar for sake, I waited in the shadows of an alley for him. I waited for hours hunched in the darkness. When I saw him I sprinted to him and since he was drunk he didn't have the reaction time to evade my blade and I ran him through. But it wasn't enough so as he lay crying out in pain and fear I stabbed him through the neck, and killed him. When I turned around there was Soichiro. He saw the whole thing.
"I wasn't as careful as I should have been. I was getting impatient in the shadows. I wanted to kill him and get it done with. I should have made sure nobody was around but I was in such a rush I didn't. I chased after Soichiro to kill him as well because I was a shadow-assassin, I wasn't supposed to be seen. Unfortunately he was much faster than me and escaped. But just before I lost him he yelled to me, 'You will pay Battousai. I will kill you to avenge the death of Kintatsu. You will die along with your loved ones,' and he left and I never saw him again."
Sano was quiet. He always was when Kenshin had to tell stories about his days as the Battousai. He knew it hurt Kenshin to do so, to dig up his awful past. They walked in silence.