Chapter Four
/I didn't expect him to refuse. He was impressed, I sensed that from him and he wants me to keep practicing because he gave me the sword and yet he still refused to teach me.// It had been on her mind every day since she had left Seijuro more than a month ago. Now the sun was once again disappearing and her trek had lead her to a fairly well populated area. While it was by no means massive, the small city had the most confusing streets and she soon found herself lost in them.
As the sky dimmed Aisu noted an abrupt change. Where a few minutes ago there had been children playing in the streets and people talking, now there was nobody. It was like the town had died as soon as darkness came about. Through the cracks of windows she could see light from inside numerous houses but all windows and doors were bolted shut. A little down the street someone was hurrying toward her.
"Why is everything so quiet, where did everyone go?" Aisu asked the woman, who was now a few paces ahead of her.
"No time, no one knows when they'll strike but it's always after dark. You should get inside somewhere." The woman said panting and then disappeared into a house.
Everything was quiet again. Aisu kept walking thinking she had finally found a way out of the convoluted streets of the city. At long last Aisu saw the forest that surrounded the city. She hurried up the last street and was halfway there when she heard screams behind her. Whirling around, she understood what the women must have meant. In the dim light of the moon she could see a group of people walking down the market street. They were destroying doors, smashing windows and several of them were already pouring into the shops taking whatever pleased them. Aisu hurried back towards them. Having passed the market street on her quest out of the city, she was there quickly. She froze for a moment, taking in the destruction that faced her. Two of the bandits noticed her and came closer. They drew their sword and started slashing wildly about. She easily avoided all of their attempts to hit her.
"Sou Ryu Sen," she whispered and drew her blade, hitting her attacker squarely in the stomach. The sheath followed, hitting the other man that was coming at her.
Some of the spectators had now also drawn their swords. And were coming at her. Aisu felt her mind freeze. All she could do was dodge their blows as she was being slowly pushed backwards. All of a sudden she felt stone behind here. They had backed her against a wall. Panic struck her. All of a sudden she remembered something. The voice sounded so familiar. /The problem is, dodging isn't the only part of swordsmanship. You have to attack as well. You can't rely on running and I'd say you're out of places to run' Seijuro Hiko.// Aisu raised her sword and charged at the man in front of her hitting him firmly in the side. Another one appeared before her and she dodged him as well. Immobilizing his arm with her blade. Another and another. They kept coming until finally, there were none left.
Footsteps were coming from her left. Quickly she darted out of sight but not before surveying what she had done. The blade Seijuro had given her was dull; none of the bandits had been killed outright but they were all unconscious and some would probably die from their wounds. Her stomach turned over and she ran into the solitude of the forest.
There was no sound. Trees surrounded her in silence. Aisu sank down at the base of one and closed her eyes. /I did something good. They would've torn the whole street apart if I hadn't stopped them.// Aisu's thoughts were racing, trying to justify what she had done, /This is what Kenshin left to do// Aisu realized. /he left so he could help people just like I helped today.// She thought back to what she had hears of the situation. The bandits had been coming for a while now and no one knew where they were hiding out. The police came but usually not early enough to catch someone with any authority. By the time the arrived only the stragglers were left. /I'll go back. I don't really have anything else to do. I'll help them catch whoever is behind this. I told Seijuro that I'd be just like Kenshin, just as good, and I will be.//
~~~~~~~~~~
"There has been another incident, sir"
"Same as all the others? No evidence? No sightings?"
"One possible sighting, sir."
The taller man walked over to his desk and sat down heavily, leafing through the report. It was identical to the ones he received every few days. Reports of an organized group of bandits had been coming in for weeks, but lately there had been an odd turn of events. Someone was stopping the bandits before the police ever arrived. More importantly, whoever it was had managed to do it all unseen.
"Dismissed," The man said absentmindedly.
There, the sentence that he had been looking for. Yellow eyes reread the sentence over and over. ".possible suspect . wearing a cloak with a hood .quick with the sword." /That's like stating the obvious// he though disappointed.
~~~~~~~~~~
The hilt of her sword connected with the last man's forehead, as he fell unconscious to the ground. She could already hear the footsteps coming from several streets. The light of the moon illuminated the streets ahead of her, and she quickly took the narrowest one. /Why are there more officers tonight? They're everywhere// Aisu though a little desperately ducking into another street when she saw several come down the street she had chosen. Footsteps soon rang in her alternative street as well. Aisu ducked into a narrow ally at the last minute. Aisu flattened herself against the side of the ally as the policemen passed. Her sigh of relief was cut short by someone's footsteps coming down the same road. Whoever it was, was treading carefully, not wanting to be noticed. A tall man wearing a blue uniform came into her view. His black spiky hair hung into his eyes, which were a piercing yellow. He stopped right in her view and searched the alleyway with that determined gaze. His yellow eyes caught her silver one's and he smiled in triumph.
"So you're him," he mused, leaning against the building behind him.
Pointless to pretend he hadn't seen her now. She stepped out of the shadows and the moon illuminated her worn, brown cloak.
"Not quiet" Aisu said as she removed her hood and loosened her silver hair from its confines letting him see that she was not male, as he had first thought. The result was as she had predicted. His eyes widened for a moment and then quickly returned to their previous narrowed state. /So I managed to surprise you after all, Wolf of Mibu.//
"So tell me," Aisu continued, pressing her advantage. "Why go to so much trouble to catch me? It's never going to work no matter how many of them you send into the streets. I'll sneak around them all."
"Try? I'd say I succeeded," the man said. "It is curious. Someone of your skill, and I've never heard of you. You must admit it is curious.
"I'd like to point out that you haven't caught me at all, Hajime Saitou. You have only seen me and I can change that very quickly."
"So now that you know who I am, who are you?" Hajime said, changing the subject.
"You may call me Aisu" she replied carefully.
"Is that not your real name?" He asked, sensing something in her voice.
"My real name never existed, as far as I know."
Only footsteps broke the silence and they were getting loader. Aisu turned to look down the street and turned back to the Shinsengumi captain.
"I hope we meet again, Hajime Saitou." She nodded, pulled her hood up again, and disappeared into the night.
/I didn't expect him to refuse. He was impressed, I sensed that from him and he wants me to keep practicing because he gave me the sword and yet he still refused to teach me.// It had been on her mind every day since she had left Seijuro more than a month ago. Now the sun was once again disappearing and her trek had lead her to a fairly well populated area. While it was by no means massive, the small city had the most confusing streets and she soon found herself lost in them.
As the sky dimmed Aisu noted an abrupt change. Where a few minutes ago there had been children playing in the streets and people talking, now there was nobody. It was like the town had died as soon as darkness came about. Through the cracks of windows she could see light from inside numerous houses but all windows and doors were bolted shut. A little down the street someone was hurrying toward her.
"Why is everything so quiet, where did everyone go?" Aisu asked the woman, who was now a few paces ahead of her.
"No time, no one knows when they'll strike but it's always after dark. You should get inside somewhere." The woman said panting and then disappeared into a house.
Everything was quiet again. Aisu kept walking thinking she had finally found a way out of the convoluted streets of the city. At long last Aisu saw the forest that surrounded the city. She hurried up the last street and was halfway there when she heard screams behind her. Whirling around, she understood what the women must have meant. In the dim light of the moon she could see a group of people walking down the market street. They were destroying doors, smashing windows and several of them were already pouring into the shops taking whatever pleased them. Aisu hurried back towards them. Having passed the market street on her quest out of the city, she was there quickly. She froze for a moment, taking in the destruction that faced her. Two of the bandits noticed her and came closer. They drew their sword and started slashing wildly about. She easily avoided all of their attempts to hit her.
"Sou Ryu Sen," she whispered and drew her blade, hitting her attacker squarely in the stomach. The sheath followed, hitting the other man that was coming at her.
Some of the spectators had now also drawn their swords. And were coming at her. Aisu felt her mind freeze. All she could do was dodge their blows as she was being slowly pushed backwards. All of a sudden she felt stone behind here. They had backed her against a wall. Panic struck her. All of a sudden she remembered something. The voice sounded so familiar. /The problem is, dodging isn't the only part of swordsmanship. You have to attack as well. You can't rely on running and I'd say you're out of places to run' Seijuro Hiko.// Aisu raised her sword and charged at the man in front of her hitting him firmly in the side. Another one appeared before her and she dodged him as well. Immobilizing his arm with her blade. Another and another. They kept coming until finally, there were none left.
Footsteps were coming from her left. Quickly she darted out of sight but not before surveying what she had done. The blade Seijuro had given her was dull; none of the bandits had been killed outright but they were all unconscious and some would probably die from their wounds. Her stomach turned over and she ran into the solitude of the forest.
There was no sound. Trees surrounded her in silence. Aisu sank down at the base of one and closed her eyes. /I did something good. They would've torn the whole street apart if I hadn't stopped them.// Aisu's thoughts were racing, trying to justify what she had done, /This is what Kenshin left to do// Aisu realized. /he left so he could help people just like I helped today.// She thought back to what she had hears of the situation. The bandits had been coming for a while now and no one knew where they were hiding out. The police came but usually not early enough to catch someone with any authority. By the time the arrived only the stragglers were left. /I'll go back. I don't really have anything else to do. I'll help them catch whoever is behind this. I told Seijuro that I'd be just like Kenshin, just as good, and I will be.//
~~~~~~~~~~
"There has been another incident, sir"
"Same as all the others? No evidence? No sightings?"
"One possible sighting, sir."
The taller man walked over to his desk and sat down heavily, leafing through the report. It was identical to the ones he received every few days. Reports of an organized group of bandits had been coming in for weeks, but lately there had been an odd turn of events. Someone was stopping the bandits before the police ever arrived. More importantly, whoever it was had managed to do it all unseen.
"Dismissed," The man said absentmindedly.
There, the sentence that he had been looking for. Yellow eyes reread the sentence over and over. ".possible suspect . wearing a cloak with a hood .quick with the sword." /That's like stating the obvious// he though disappointed.
~~~~~~~~~~
The hilt of her sword connected with the last man's forehead, as he fell unconscious to the ground. She could already hear the footsteps coming from several streets. The light of the moon illuminated the streets ahead of her, and she quickly took the narrowest one. /Why are there more officers tonight? They're everywhere// Aisu though a little desperately ducking into another street when she saw several come down the street she had chosen. Footsteps soon rang in her alternative street as well. Aisu ducked into a narrow ally at the last minute. Aisu flattened herself against the side of the ally as the policemen passed. Her sigh of relief was cut short by someone's footsteps coming down the same road. Whoever it was, was treading carefully, not wanting to be noticed. A tall man wearing a blue uniform came into her view. His black spiky hair hung into his eyes, which were a piercing yellow. He stopped right in her view and searched the alleyway with that determined gaze. His yellow eyes caught her silver one's and he smiled in triumph.
"So you're him," he mused, leaning against the building behind him.
Pointless to pretend he hadn't seen her now. She stepped out of the shadows and the moon illuminated her worn, brown cloak.
"Not quiet" Aisu said as she removed her hood and loosened her silver hair from its confines letting him see that she was not male, as he had first thought. The result was as she had predicted. His eyes widened for a moment and then quickly returned to their previous narrowed state. /So I managed to surprise you after all, Wolf of Mibu.//
"So tell me," Aisu continued, pressing her advantage. "Why go to so much trouble to catch me? It's never going to work no matter how many of them you send into the streets. I'll sneak around them all."
"Try? I'd say I succeeded," the man said. "It is curious. Someone of your skill, and I've never heard of you. You must admit it is curious.
"I'd like to point out that you haven't caught me at all, Hajime Saitou. You have only seen me and I can change that very quickly."
"So now that you know who I am, who are you?" Hajime said, changing the subject.
"You may call me Aisu" she replied carefully.
"Is that not your real name?" He asked, sensing something in her voice.
"My real name never existed, as far as I know."
Only footsteps broke the silence and they were getting loader. Aisu turned to look down the street and turned back to the Shinsengumi captain.
"I hope we meet again, Hajime Saitou." She nodded, pulled her hood up again, and disappeared into the night.