Kenshin watched from the shadows as four groaning guards were helped from the western pavillion; it was the best evidence yet that he had finally found Sanosuke.  He had searched the obvious places, but for some strange reason, Shibumi had guards prowling around all of the abandoned nooks of Aizu.  The darkness was edging more toward morning than night, pressing Kenshin's need to get back to Yahiko and Saitou when loud whispers caught his attention.

            "I can't believe we actually caught a spy!  I bet Ol' No Eyes'll give us all promotions for this," someone said, as Kenshin hid himself from the approaching guards.

"Shhhhh! You know that Usui will somehow know you said something like that!" a second person hissed.  Kenshin watched as two young guards walked out of the pavilion and into the covered walkway carrying Sano's bound and limp form.  "Do you really believe he's a spy?  I mean this is Sagara Sanosuke. I didn't know him all that well, but I really don't think that he'd spy against Aizu."  'This isn't good, that it is not,' Kenshin thought as he followed them with his eyes, allowing them to get a certain distance away from him before following them physically.  "Besides, why would the Shogun, of all people, spy on us anyway?"  Unseen, Kenshin nodded his agreement.

"You know better than to question orders.  Besides, we did catch him in a place that no one goes to anymore."  Kenshin followed them stealthily, frantically formulating and discarding plans to rescue his friend.  He was thinking so hard, that he almost didn't notice that they were not heading for the dungeons or the grand audience room, but towards Shibumi's rooms.  His heart contracted with fear for Sano.

"Why do you think that Usui countermanded the order to bring any spies directly to the Daimyo?"  Kenshin frowned, not knowing what to make of this information; but he knew that it did not make Sano's situation any easier:  he would have to be extremely careful if he had to rescue Sano from Uonuma Usui.

"You know, you are never going to rise far in the ranks if you continue to ask all of these questions.  Just do your job, and you'll be a whole lot happier."  Kenshin left them to their argument, needing to find a place where he could listen in on Usui without being heard.

***

Shibumi's "trysting room" was overstuffed and cluttered, making it hard to move freely, much to Usui's disgust.  He became aware of the muffled heartbeat, and nearly soundless breathing just as the guards bearing the prisoner reached the door.  He snatched the screen open without waiting for them to knock, scaring them both.  Usui barely listened as the surprised guards gingerly lay their burden on the floor and bowed their way out; he was trying to find the source of that hidden heartbeat.  'So, Shibumi is correct: there are spies in Aizu,' Usui thought.  'However, is it a spy for the Shogun, as Shibumi would claim; or a spy for Shibumi himself?'  It actually wouldn't surprise him if Shibumi was spying on him; but Usui didn't think the man was smart enough.  'So, the spy is most likely form the Shogun, after all,' Usui resolved, 'and no real threat to me.'  After nearly 20 minutes of searching, however, he had turned up nothing.  Usui ground his teeth in frustration.

A soft groan, a small shift in breathing and a rush of adrenalin halted his search.  He smirked quietly as the boy wisely tried to feign unconsciousness.  "Well, well, well; my, my, my.  What have we here?" Usui asked nonchalantly, prodding his prisoner lightly with the tip of his spear.  "I know you're awake, boy."  Usui reveled in the accelerated heartbeat and the smell of adrenalin as the boy shifted away from poking spear, hissing when his movement caused the ropes to tighten painfully.  "I'd advise you not to squirm too much; Moriyama's hojojutsu is excellent."

"Don't call me boy," Sagara growled, still struggling vainly against the tightening ropes.  "What the fuck do you want from me?" he asked with a small gasp.  Usui chuckled as he realized his prisoner recognized the room that they were in.  He couldn't resist the urge to toy with the boy a little.

"Oh yes, I remember you, now, Sagara Sanosuke," Usui said with a smirk.  "I've been told that you are a very pretty boy," he emphasized the last word as he let the flat of his spear's blade caress his prisoner's cheek.  "A brash boy with little common sense," he let the spear point drift lower, to rest over Sanosuke's rapidly beating heart, "who never knew when to shut up.  Even Saitou despaired of ever teaching you caution."  He smirked as his prisoner instinctively tried to inch away from the spear.  "I'm not sure why Shibumi is so enamored with you; pretty boys are so very easy to find.  But I do know that he'll pay me whatever price I ask for you."

"So, you've become Shibumi's pimp?" the boy said in a vain attempt to use bravado to mask his growing, and obvious to Usui, anxiety.  "How pathetic," the boy said, his gruff voice taking on an almost sly, goading tone. 

Almost without thought, Usui let his spear point open a small seam in the skin along the boy's cheekbone, filling the room with the bright metallic tang of blood.  The boy hissed his pain as Usui laughed at him.  Usui carefully licked the blood from the blade with a smirk.  "Very sweet," he taunted.  His victim's helpless defiance, fear and anger mixed with the strength of his pride tainted the very air to Usui's heightened senses; it was as if the boy were a wild thing caged, and it was an exhilarating combination.  "You are in no position to say anything to me in that tone of voice, Sagara Sanosuke; after all, I could kill you without a thought."  Usui punctuated his point by letting his spear tip break the skin over the boy's breastbone.  Whatever reaction to his threat he had been expecting from Sagara, the boy calmly relaxing into his bonds and baring his throat hadn't been one of them.  Usui found it interesting that it was the unseen spy's heart that accelerated with fear and worry.

"Saitou was right," the boy said in a snide tone of voice, bringing Usui back to the task at hand, "you're a bully and a coward." 

"I am the Captain of Aizu's guard," Usui snarled in anger at the taunt, his cool mockery evaporating at the mention of the former captain's name.  "Saitou Hajime is nothing," he raised his spear, fully intending to inflict serious damage to the insolent young man.  He noticed that his action did not induce the dread he was anticipating, just a feeling of expectant hopefulness from Sagara, and quickly realized that the boy was trying to provoke him into killing him.  Usui swiftly changed his strike, letting the weighted end of the spear catch the boy on his upraised chin, causing him to groan again.  He would lose everything if he killed Sagara Sanosuke.  "Clever boy," he complimented facetiously, as he heard Shindou Tatewaki's steps nearing the room.  "But you're worth much more to me alive."  The boy's anger, the sounds of clinching teeth and the creaking of tightening ropes, was almost a physical thing.  "What do you want, Shindou?" he called before his aide could knock, ignoring his captive's anger.

"Sir, the Daimyo wishes to see you immediately!" Shindou called through the screen.  Usui smirked.  Shibumi was probably in over his head again, and needing to be bailed out of whatever mess he had gotten himself into.

"Fine, Shindou.  Tell him I'll be there momentarily.  I need time to make myself presentable.  Also, I want you to post guards on this room.  No one is to come in or out, unless I say so, not even the Daimyo, is that understood?  Let everyone know that the penalty for failure is death."  Usui smiled as he heard the gasp his aide tried to hide as the man bowed his way from the door.  That should discourage his cleverly hidden spy.

Usui waited in silence for the ordered guards to reach the room, ignoring the curses and threats from his prisoner.  As the guards reached their post, he slid open the screen.  Turning toward his 'guest,' he allowed himself to sneer.  "Don't move," he commanded the bound boy frivolously.  "I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Fuck you, bastard," Sagara snarled defiantly.  Usui chuckled. 

"Not now, but maybe when I return, if you're lucky." The boy's anger at the taunt made him try his luck against the ropes again.  'I really can't fault the Daimyo for wanting to break this boy to his will,' Usui thought as he listened to his captive's snarls.  'But as always, Shibumi overreaches himself.'

 "I'm sure we'll have a lot more to discuss before I let Shibumi know you're here."  Again the boy's emotions didn't match Usui's expectations; yes, there was fear and helplessness, but there was also something indefinable, like the boy knew something that he himself didn't.  He pursed his lips, contemplating, but decided that he would be sure to find out what his captive thought he knew later; it wouldn't do to keep the Shogun waiting.

He was about to close the screen when he noticed that the muffled heartbeat of the Shogun's spy was gone.

***

Sanosuke hurt; his body was a mass of crisscrossed bruises and burns from the ropes.  'Damn Moriyama for learning hojojutsu anyway.'  The blood drying on his face and chest was sticky, and his head ached from the earlier blow.  Physical pain meant nothing to him, however; he had always taken pride in his own strength.  Physical pain had never been anything more to him than an indication that he was alive.

Alive.  He sighed, wondering how everything had gone wrong.  Granted, planning wasn't his strong suit; Saitou was the planner.  He sighed again at the thought of Saitou, wishing nothing more than to let the man ruck his breast feathers in that damn annoying way of his, or hear the man call him 'idiot' or 'featherhead' again, or bite at his feet when he tried to sleep past dawn's twilight.  Sano groaned. 'It's funny what you miss when you don't have it anymore,' he thought sadly.

He kept absolutely still, his eyes closed, almost dizzily aware of the spin of the earth beneath him.  Despite the room's lack of windows, he knew that sunrise was agonizingly near; for the first time in over two years he couldn't bring himself to regret it.  Hopefully, by the time that blind psychopath returned he would have figured a way out of the room; the only trace of him would be a puddle of rope, some stolen clothes and perhaps a feather or two.  Wouldn't Usui be surprised?  He let out a low chuckle at the thought. 

'And what will you do if you escape?' he asked himself.  'Where will you go?'  That was the rub:  he didn't know what to do now that his attempt at a grand gesture had failed: his death for the return of Saitou to normal life.  He didn't see any other way to atone for the hurt he had caused, to prove his love for the man. 

Why had it taken him so long to realize that he loved Saitou? Why had it taken a threat to Saitou's life to open his eyes?  Considering everything he had done to catch Saitou's attention or gain his approval, shouldn't it have been obvious?  Perhaps Kenshin had been right, maybe he was selfish; but he couldn't go back to Saitou as a failure.  And he would never return to Shibumi. Never.  It seemed all of his choices had been taken away from him.  He would escape from his bonds with the rising sun, and find a way to finish what he started.

***

Yahiko paced fearfully by the wagon, waiting for Kenshin's return.  The night was growing late, and the constant scrutiny by various patrolling guards did nothing to calm his nerves.  Saitou growled at him from under the blanket.  "That's easy for you to say," Yahiko said crossly.  "You aren't out here getting stared at by every guard in Aizu."  The wolf snorted in what could only be called derision.  As if his words had summoning power, Yahiko noticed a guard looking intently at him and the wagon.

"Hey you," the man called out suddenly, making Yahiko jump.  "Why are you just sitting there?"  Yahiko ducked his head to hide his face, trying to ignore the fact that he was the only person that the guard could be talking to.  "You! Yeah, you!" the man yelled, making sure he was heard.  "I asked you a question."  Yahiko's mind froze and his heart pounded in his ears.

"Ah…I…um…heh…what, what?" he heard himself babble.  Somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that Saitou's growls had become more frightening.  The guard pulled his sword from its scabbard and Yahiko felt his eyes widening.

"I told him to stay here while I looked for an inn, that I did," Kenshin's light voice broke through the gloom.  Yahiko's knees went weak with relief as the short wanderer stepped into the guttering torchlight.  The guard's eyes narrowed.

"And you are?"

"The boy's uncle, sir.  We came on behalf of our village with a gift for the Daimyo, that we did."  The guard nodded.

"Oh, I heard about you and your slow nephew."  Yahiko's squeak of indignation was cut off by Saitou's menacing snarl.  "You have a wolf in the wagon, huh?"  Kenshin nodded politely, and the guard laughed.  "Well you obviously won't find an inn tonight, not with all of these damned courtiers here.  You can stay here for now, but you'll have to move your wagon by sunrise," the guard allowed magnanimously.  Kenshin bowed low, elbowing Yahiko to do the same.  Saitou became quiet in the wagon.

"We thank you sir, that we do," he said to the man's retreating back. 

"Slow?" Yahiko spat between clinched teeth, "I'll show him who's 'slow'."

"Are you prepared to face close scrutiny by the guards, Yahiko?" Kenshin asked quietly.  "You know that the guards are still looking for you, that you do.  If people think you're slow, they will not even look at you, afraid your affliction will somehow rub off on them."  Yahiko sighed, letting the explanation soothe his wounded pride, knowing what Kenshin said was true.  But he still didn't like it.

"Where's Sano?" he mumbled to take his mind off the insult done to him.  "Did you find him?  He obviously hasn't killed himself," Yahiko said with a pointed look at the wagon.  Kenshin reached to run a nervous hand through hair before forcefully stopping himself from dislodging his disguise.

"Sano has been captured by Uonuma Usui, that he has," Kenshin said quietly.  If Yahiko had thought Saitou's snarls had been menacing before, he had been sadly mistaken.  The rickety wagon was shaking with the wolf's efforts to get free of his makeshift bonds.  Yahiko couldn't really blame him; his one encounter with the creepy, blind man had been enough to stunt his own growth.  "Saitou, stop it!" Kenshin hissed.  "Do you think I would have left Sano there if he were in any immediate danger?"  The wagon stopped shaking, but the growling didn't cease.  "Besides, Usui is with the Daimyo and the Shogun now, hunting him down and killing him would only give you away.  The plan stays the same: Yahiko will free as many prisoners as possible, I'll get Sanosuke, and you will both confront Shibumi during the eclipse.  We've come too far to change it now, that we have."  The wolf stopped growling long enough to snort.  "It was your plan to begin with, that it was."  Saitou made a disgusted sound that Yahiko interpreted as 'I didn't hear you coming up with anything.' 

"Let's get this over with.  It's going to be dawn soon," Yahiko sighed as he turned his attention to the sky.  "I should be going."  The wolf poked his head out from under the blanket, his amber eyes glowing eerily in the torchlight.  Kenshin nodded and enfolded him in a hug.

"Good luck," he said quietly, ruffling Yahiko's hair.  "We're all counting on you, that we are, so be careful."   Saitou made a whining noise and gestured with his head for Yahiko to approach him; which the young thief did gingerly, having spent most of his recent time trying to avoid being too close to Saitou in his animal form.  The wolf looked him directly in the eyes and placed a long-nailed paw on his shoulder in a kind of benediction.  Yahiko petted the rough black fur between Saitou's ears cautiously, afraid of taking liberties.

"If I don't see you again, thank you for saving my life," Yahiko said for the wolf's ears alone.  Saitou gave him a wolf's open mouth smile, and a small cuff to the nose, before effectively dismissing him by returning under the blanket.  Kenshin was smiling at the scene.  "Good luck to us all," Yahiko said to the Wanderer, "we're going to need it."  He turned away, not looking back; retracing his steps back to a place he had never wanted to see again: the dungeons of Aizu.