AN: Meh… I need some angst in here, somewhere. It's too…too happy-ish right now. XD

Still the Same to Me
Chapter Eight

Sanosuke had decided to let Battousai spy on Soujiro without interruptions. He knew that it was impossible to sway Battousai from doing his "duty" of sorts, but he couldn't help but to watch Battousai. Considering Battousai wasn't used to such attention, Sanosuke would catch the ex-assassin blushing from time to time. However, as the day moved on, Sanosuke noticed a change in Battousai's mannerisms.

Battousai wasn't nearly as relaxed as he usually was—which wasn't that relaxed at all, now that Sanosuke thought about it—and that Soujiro seemed to be tensing up quite a bit, as well. Both were on edge and Sanosuke couldn't fathom as to why they were. Perhaps Battousai had been correct in saying that Soujiro was up to something—maybe the young man had been planning something.

But that didn't make sense. Soujiro was tense, almost as tense as Battousai himself, but anxiousness couldn't cause that much tension in such a usually easy-going and happy person. Something else had to be bothering the young man, and the same thing had to be bothering Battousai just as much, if not more. Yahiko was even beginning to notice that the two were acting strange, and had asked Sanosuke if he knew what was up.

The boy was now sleeping, thankfully, leaving the three adults up and about. Generally, seeing Battousai so uptight made Sanosuke nervous, leaving Sanosuke to wonder if everything would be all right, that nothing was going to happen. Soon enough, when Battousai had excused himself to take a walk outside of the Dojo, Sanosuke couldn't help but want to follow—he needed to ask Battousai what was going on. He couldn't just be left in the dark if his life was in danger; if Yahiko was going to need to be protected.

"Sanosuke, I do not appreciate you following me like this," Battousai muttered finally as they made it halfway up the street. Sanosuke had been about ten feet or so behind Battousai, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was following.

"You never take walks, Battousai. I was just wondering what you were up to," Sanosuke responded, noticing that the ex-assassin turned around to face him. Battousai's face was hard to decipher in the dark lighting of the street, but Sanosuke could see that the mask Battousai usually placed on his face had been removed, leaving Sanosuke to glimpse further into Battousai's soul. Since Battousai had obviously noticed Sanosuke's resolve to stay with him, Battousai motioned Sanosuke to come over to him.

"I was checking to see if anyone was spying on the Dojo. I've been sensing disturbing presences all day after you and Kenshin had your little talk," Battousai answered, sighing, his left hand tightening a bit on the sheath of the sakabato. It looked as if he was going to tense and go into the Battoujutsu stance any second. "And by 'disturbing' I mean threatening presences, Sanosuke."

Sanosuke nodded, tensing up slightly as well and staring out at the shadows suspiciously. If Battousai was uptight enough now that his hand was continuing to tighten around the sheath of the sakabato, there had to be someone near by making him this tense. "Are they strong?"

At the question Battousai relaxed, removing his hand from the sheath and straightening. He turned to Sanosuke and took a step towards him. "I believe one of them is strong—he has only been around once, though. I believe I sensed him just now, but he moved away…" Battousai muttered, taking a few steps back towards the Dojo. "I think it's safest if we stay at home, tonight."

"Shouldn't we be trying to get Yahiko and Soujiro out of the Dojo and to someplace safe?" Sanosuke asked, blinking and following him. "I mean, if they're going to attack, shouldn't we try to avoid getting hurt? They can't possibly be watching us all the time to know all of our moves, can they?"

"They are, Sanosuke, and that's exactly why we should stay at the Dojo. If we attempt to relocate they'll only follow us, and think us cowardly for bothering to run away in the first place. And Hitokiri Battousai does not run from battles, just to delay them," he muttered, glancing up at Sanosuke. "I may be just a part of Kenshin to you, but in a sense I really am a different person than he is. I understand that in any battle someone is likely to get hurt, or even die, and I'd rather not sit and wait for that to happen. If someone's going to get hurt," Battousai paused, his eyes growing darker a bit, "I want it only to be me."

"What are you saying?" Sanosuke asked, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Are you really going to sacrifice yourself for us—for Soujiro? Kenshin wouldn't want you to do that!"

"And that's exactly why he will have some control if a fight breaks out, Sanosuke," Battousai responded, managing a soft smile. "I will lend him my strength and skills as he will lend me his will to live. If we are truly going to become one, instead of remaining separate, then we need to be able to cooperate with each other. We need to see each other eye to eye. While he wants to hold onto his little want to never kill again, we both know I have no qualms on ending someone's life. But I only kill those who I believe deserve death…"

"And what if this guy deserves it, Battousai? What are you going to do then?" Sanosuke muttered. "I don't want to see either you or Kenshin lose your lives here…I don't want to see anyone die tonight."

"I don't know if they will attack tonight, Sanosuke," Battousai said softly, almost reassuringly as he smiled at Sanosuke. It was a fake smile, one Sanosuke could see through clearly. "But I want you to remain on your guard…especially since they might attack Soujiro or myself first. I don't know who they're after."

"What about Yahiko?" Sanosuke muttered as they headed through the front gate of the Dojo. "What're we gonna do about him? The kid's too young to be involved in this."

"He has beaten a member of the Juppongattana by himself mimicking one my own techniques. The boy can handle himself rather well, and he's still coming along as a swordsman even if Kaoru is not here to continue training him," Battousai responded with a soft sigh. "If he was involved in Kenshin's matters since he has known Kenshin, then the boy should fare fine on his own."

Sanosuke sighed and nodded to Battousai, grudgingly agreeing with him. "Shouldn't we try to get the police to come here and help us?"

"The police can't do anything. I've known that since during the days of the revolution. The only ones we can trust are ourselves. And if they're after Soujiro, he is no longer our enemy, but our ally. That and I have a good reason to believe that they are after Soujiro—Soujiro's acting more tense about the presences outside of the Dojo than I am. I was going to ask him if he knew what was going on, but every time I went to do so, I was distracted," Battousai explained with a small shrug.

"Then shouldn't we ask him now?" Sanosuke asked, raising an eyebrow at Battousai's tensing shoulders. "What is it, Battousai?"

"Sanosuke, stay here," he ordered, stopping Sanosuke from taking another step forward. Blinking, Sanosuke looked down at Battousai before the shorter man pushed himself away from Sanosuke, heading towards the Dojo. "Go get Yahiko, Sanosuke."

"Thought you told me to stay here?" Sanosuke muttered, confused.

"Go—get—Yahiko," Battousai repeated, his voice sharp yet low at the same time. Chills were sent Sanosuke's spine as he heard that pitch in Battousai's voice. Not wanting to push Battousai's patience, Sanosuke headed off towards the back of the Dojo to the back entrance so he could get Yahiko faster. Sounds of swords crashing and meeting each other reached his ears as he sneaked inside of the Dojo. It didn't take long for Sanosuke to find Yahiko, sprawled about his bed as if he didn't hear a single sound.

"Yahiko, you bastard, wake up," Sanosuke hissed, shaking the boy awake. Yahiko slowly came to just as a crash of a body falling to the floor resounded throughout the Dojo.

"What's going on, Sano…?"

Sanosuke put a hand to Yahiko's mouth, "Be quiet, idiot. I don't think they know you're in here…" he whispered, glancing towards the door of Yahiko's room. Yahiko's eyes were looking up at him questioningly, causing Sanosuke to sigh. "Some creeps decided to attack the Dojo, Yahiko. Kenshin and Soujiro are fighting them off, I think…."

"Sanosuke-san! Yahiko! Come with me."

Sanosuke glanced up to see Soujiro standing by the door, looking somewhat distraught as he leaned against the doorframe as best he could. "Where are we going?" Sanosuke muttered, standing up, dragging Yahiko to his feet, as well.

"Outside. Himura-san has decided to fight the men by himself, but I doubt he'll win…" Soujiro's eyes seemed clearer, almost filled with emotions that Sanosuke thought was impossible to see within the young man's eyes. "He told me that he wanted you two outside, away from the battle."

Sanosuke nodded before turning to Yahiko. "C'mon, let's do as Kenshin says for now, okay?"

Yahiko opened his mouth, probably to retort, but Sanosuke shook his head and muttered, "I'll explain when we get outside, Yahiko. Now c'mon…" Sanosuke then headed out of the room, Yahiko following him reluctantly.

"I wanna help Kenshin…" Yahiko muttered as he caught up to Sanosuke, glaring at the ground.

"I do, too, kid, but that isn't Kenshin who's fighting in there," Sanosuke responded softly, sighing.

"What?!"

"That's Hitokiri Battousai fighting," Sanosuke continued, as if he hadn't heard Yahiko's cry at all. "Ever since Jou-chan died, Battousai's pretty much taken over…"

"He isn't much different than Kenshin," Yahiko said softly, blinking up at Sanosuke as they made it into the yard of the Dojo. Soujiro was no where to be seen, but Sanosuke figured he went to help Battousai out. "Aside from the fact that his food isn't as good."

Sanosuke managed a soft chuckle at that, listening to see if he could catch any sound of the fight. Fidgeting slightly, he focused his attention at the front of the Dojo, wondering if Battousai was all right. "Kenshin was took control earlier today, though," Sanosuke whispered finally.

"…I thought he had been acting a bit different," Yahiko muttered, staring intently at the front of the Dojo as well. "Did you tell him how you felt about him?"

Sanosuke crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't understand why he and Yahiko were talking so calmly when they knew that the man they admired and loved was now fighting and possibly going to lose his life. Why was he just standing there, not even able to watch the battle? "C'mon, Yahiko, let's go."

"I was waiting for you to say that, lunkhead," Yahiko stated, smirking and heading off towards the front of the Dojo. "C'mon, we gotta help your boyfriend!"

Sanosuke glared at Yahiko's back before running off after the boy. "Where's your sword, Yahiko?"

"I'm gonna go get it, you go on ahead, Sano," Yahiko called out to him, jogging away from Sanosuke.

Sanosuke nodded and picked up his pace a bit, praying that at the moment, Battousai wasn't hurt. When he made it to where the battle was taking place, Battousai had his back to him, sword drawn and in position. The man in front of him was built just as most expected an expert swordsman to be. Within a second Sanosuke felt the presence of someone else, and he glanced over to see Soujiro standing next to him.

"Who is that guy?" Sanosuke asked finally, hoping that Soujiro would know.

"The man who killed my family," Soujiro responded, drawing his sword. "It's my fault that he's here—he was after me…I thought that if I stayed with Himura-san, I would be safe."

Sanosuke only managed a nod, watching the battle occur, his mouth set in a firm line. "Please, Battousai," he thought out loud to himself as Soujiro went to help Battousai, "don't forget that you need to see Kenshin eye to eye, and to keep his vow never to kill again…while staying alive."