"Go away, Kenshin," Sanosuke commanded in a low voice, as he found the hunter's skinning knife. "Unless you think you'd enjoy watching me kill myself." Kenshin felt his eyes go wide at this last statement.
"Sano," he said as he hurriedly, but carefully, swept a long stick in front of his feet in order to clear away any traps in his path, "why in the world would you even say something like that?" The sky was graying towards dawn, and Kenshin knew that if he could keep Sano talking for a few moments more this danger would pass. A trap snapped the end of the stick. How the hell had Sano gotten past all of these in the dark, Kenshin wondered to himself.
"Because he thinks I hate him…" Sano started. He looked down at the knife in his grip. "Because everything's entirely my fault. If I had committed suicide when this mess began, none of this would be happening. No one would have been hurt, or killed, or… Hell, Shibumi may have even been shamed enough to change his ways." Kenshin thought he sounded like his spirit had broken.
"Shibumi has neither shame nor honor. You know that, Sano, that you do," Kenshin said, hoping to keep the young man talking. The light was growing stronger; Kenshin kept finding and disarming traps. "Killing yourself back then would not have changed him. And killing yourself now will not solve anything, that it won't." Sano took a deep breath and placed the tip of the knife to his navel. "Sano! Please put the knife down! I know you are not this selfish. If you do this, you will be throwing away everything that Saitou and I have done for you, that you will!"
"Last night, I told Hajime that I hated him Kenshin; he thinks that I hate him. Thank you for everything that you've try to do for me, really, but I think that everyone would be better off when I'm gone," Sano said as he grit his teeth and closed his eyes.
"SANO! NO!" Kenshin shouted, lunging forward, traps forgotten.
***
Yahiko watched from Horse's stall as the cold dawn painted the wind tattered clouds with streaks of pink and gold. The big black horse broke wind, and his tail swished violently, slapping Yahiko stingingly on the back as if he were an annoying fly. "Damn it Horse, this is not the time for jokes…" Yahiko began, as he pushed the horse's hindquarters away. A cold shadow fell upon the boy, and he looked up into two hard amber eyes. Yahiko bit his lip, suddenly unsure of what he was going to say.
"What are you doing here? Did Himura send you to rub my troubles into my face?" Saitou asked as he entered the stall. He began rummaging through the saddlebag for his clothes without looking at Yahiko.
"Sano asked me to come here and talk to you," Yahiko started. Saitou's sudden glare made Yahiko's words freeze on his tongue.
"Hn. I would have thought that Sanosuke would at least be smart enough to know that he said everything he needed to say last night," Saitou said distantly, as he put on his underclothes. Yahiko frowned at him.
"He didn't mean what he said to you," Yahiko said quietly in the face of the man's irritation. Saitou snorted and slipped on his kimono. "He knows he hurt your feelings, and he's…"
"Sorry?" Saitou interrupted coldly, without looking up or ceasing to dress. "Is he worried that I'll kill Shibumi, dooming him to half a life forever? Tell him that after Justice is served, I'll be sure to commit seppuku, so he can live free of the curse." He pleated and tied his riding hakama. Yahiko felt his own anger rising.
"Justice? You selfish bastard! You never cared about Sano as much as you did about 'Justice'. I don't see how he could love someone like you!" Yahiko yelled.
"You claim to be the son of a samurai, the grandson of a samurai; tell me, what are the five virtues at the heart of a true warrior?" Saitou asked calmly. Yahiko frowned quizzically and wondered what the man was driving at.
"Loyalty, justice, love, self-control, and simplicity," he answered by rote. Saitou nodded once, like a teacher to a slow pupil.
"I did not choose to take up this mission because Sanosuke loves me; I have never been under the illusion that he does; I took up this mission because fighting against injustice is the path of all true warriors," Saitou stated, but now it was Yahiko's turn to interrupt.
"Shut up, you pompous ass! You don't know anything!" Yahiko spat. Saitou raised a fine eyebrow at him. Yahiko ignored him. "Follow me, and maybe you'll learn something."
***
Saitou, bemused, surprised himself by actually allowing the young thief to lead him back down the main road toward the forest. If he was honest with himself, he knew that some part of him wanted Yahiko to be proven right; wanted to believe that Sanosuke did care for him and that the last two years of their lives together hadn't been a waste of time. The hurt part of his conscious, however, smirked at the sentimental thought. It was obvious to him that Sano blamed him for their predicament. And the bad part about it was that the young man was right: if he had had enough self-control to resist Sanosuke's pleadings in the first place, then none of this would be happening now. Saitou brutally suppressed the sigh that was trying to escape his lips.
Yahiko signaled him to stop as they rounded a bend in the road and came upon a wagon parked in the tall, dead grass. The little thief slid from Horse's back and stalked toward the wagon. "Last night, as we were heading for the inn, we came across this wagon," the boy said as gruffly as he could with his cracking voice. He watched, his irritation written plainly across his face, as Saitou slowly dismounted Horse and examined the wagon and it's grizzly contents. "The wagon's owner called Sano by name." Saitou frowned, understanding what Yahiko was implying.
"This hunter was after me, specifically," he said as he coolly counted the gory pelts on the wagon. "And that's why Sano didn't want me in that clearing." Yahiko nodded.
"There were traps all around that clearing," the boy said as he turned and began walking toward the forest on foot. Saitou tied Horse to the wagon and followed, watching the kid's retreating back without really seeing it. It was clear to him now that Sanosuke had deliberately put himself at risk by looking for this hunter who was obviously in Shibumi's service. That had been the fear he had smelled last night; that had been the danger he had sensed.
They walked the forest in silence, with only the sound of snow and twigs crunching under their feet as Saitou thought through the events of the night before from the perspective of a human being, instead of that of a wolf. Idiot! Saitou thought with a certain fondness for his…he cut that thought of at the knees. Sano had never been his anything. Still, the boy's reckless bravery on his behalf silenced the cold, cynical mutterings of his mind for now. Yahiko was slowing as they near a clearing and Saitou frowned slightly as some part of him recognized this place. If he wasn't mistaken, this was the same clearing from the night before. Another thought made its way to the front of his mind.
"Earlier you said Sanosuke sent you to talk to me. He must have gotten away from the hunter. So why are you bringing me here? Is he hurt?" The very thought that the hunter could have hurt Sano made Saitou reach for his sword's hilt. If Sanosuke had been hurt, the man would die a slow, and very painful, death. Yahiko stopped altogether, and turned to look at him with a look that seemed to measure and weigh everything about him. Saitou caught his breath in the face of the boy's cold assessment.
"Sano killed the hunter last night, Saitou," the little thief said quietly. "Was he hurt? Not that I could see. He was very upset though, and very worried that he had hurt your feelings. He told me to tell you that he loves you, and that you're free. He said that you would know what he meant." Saitou felt his heart freeze at the boy's words. He could only be free if Sano were dead. He began walking quickly toward the clearing, pushing past Yahiko without a second glance.
***
Kenshin knelt on the cold, stony ground, staring down at the disaster that he had been unable to avert; a small breeze ruffled Sanosuke's white jacket and toyed with the tattered red bandana, which was pooled like blood on the snow. He barely noticed as the shallow gash on his arm throbbed. In the distance, he could hear Yahiko and Saitou's voices as they approached the clearing, but his mind refused to hear what they were saying.
Evidently the traps were easier to spot now that the sun was fully up. There was the sound of rushing feet in the underbrush, and Kenshin finally lifted his eyes to find Saitou staring down at him. Kenshin watched as Saitou's already narrow amber eyes narrowed further as he took in the sights of the clearing.
"Where is he?" the Wolf growled at the Wanderer.
"Gone," Kenshin sighed as he began folding Sano's clothes. He watched as Saitou whistled, holding his arm up as a perch, waiting. "I don't think he intends to come back, that I don't." Saitou glared at him and Yahiko frowned.
"What happened after I left?" the young thief asked, breaking the tense silence that had sprung up between them. Kenshin turned his gaze toward the boy, unable to take Saitou's death glare as the man finally accepted that the eagle was gone and lowered his arm.
"He found the hunter's knife," Kenshin said with a glance toward the stiff body of the hunter. "You were right, Yahiko, that you were. He planned to kill himself. He seems to think that everyone would be better off without him, that if he had killed himself in the first place, even Shibumi would have been shamed." Kenshin watched as the boy nodded thoughtfully, all the while, he could still feel Saitou's continued glare like a sword thrust between his shoulder blades. "I tried to stop him, that I did, but I was too far away when he placed the blade to his stomach. The only thing that stopped him was the rising of the sun."
"Hn," Saitou snorted, as he looked away from Kenshin and began exploring the clearing. He turned over the stiff body, the distaste obvious in his harsh features.
"What happened to your arm?" Yahiko asked Kenshin, again drawing his attention away from Saitou.
"Sano accidentally raked me with his talons as he flew off, that he did." Saitou snorted again. Yahiko winced in sympathy.
"Where's the knife?" Saitou asked suddenly, his eyes sharp. Kenshin started at the question.
"He… took it with him…" Saitou's frown deepened. Then his eyes widened.
"He's going to Aizu," Saitou said, more to himself than to either Kenshin or Yahiko. Kenshin's eyes widened with realization.
"How can you know that?" Yahiko asked.
"I've traveled with him for the last two years; I know how he thinks," Saitou answered tersely. "Stupid featherhead." This last part was murmured under his breath.
"Sano mentioned shaming Shibumi, that he did," Kenshin added, seeing that Yahiko was still confused. Saitou nodded curtly.
"When is your 'eclipse'?" he asked, looking at the sun.
"Sometime tomorrow morning," Kenshin answered solemnly.
"Sano will be in the city this afternoon, but he won't be able to do anything until after sunset. If we start now, we will be able to make it by then. If we are able to find him, we may be able to stop him from doing something stupid."
"Then what are we sitting around here talking for?" Yahiko almost yelled. "Let's go." The thief began heading back toward the main road, leaving both the Wanderer and the Wolf to watch his retreating back.
