In the Shadow of the Vampire

By: Psychotic Tanuki

AN: oh well…after having two friends read the prologue and convince me to post it…here's chapter 1. Chapter 1 is mostly introducing the main characters.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the clothes on my back.

Chapter Two: The Gathering of Actors on the Stage

Sagara Sanosuke wanted only three things in death, 1) to be stronger 2) extinction of the human race and 3) Kenshin's approval. He frowned as the fishbone he had been chewing on grew filmy and soggy-like. It had taken him ten years, but the fish bone was finally ready to be thrown out. Tossing it behind his head, he made his way to the Oniwabanshu Headquarters, an excited gleam in his eye. Contrary to popular belief, the whole burning in the sun thing didn't really affect him or Kenshin. He prided himself in being one of the very few vampires in existence to be able to have that ability; it meant he was far beyond other vampires, one of the elite.

He had felt his master's presence half an hour ago, following it to the Oniwabanshu Headquarters and took his stance against a lamp post. The others were here as well. The ever so genki Makimachi Misao had chosen to sit at the café across the street, while Seta Soujiro stood in the phone booth two blocks away, pretending to speak. Sekihara Tae had been pretending to hail a cab for god knows how long and Katsu had been sitting on a bench reading the newspaper. They all felt it; they felt their master's cruelty, his intentions at the Oniwabanshu headquarters. They were all tense, the bloodlust clear in their eyes.

Their master was dealing with the okashira of the Oniwabanshu, no doubt trying to recruit Aoshi if not employ his services. Sanosuke could only wonder what his best friend and master's techniques of persuasion were going to be this time, as he stared at Kenshin's auburn hair sink further down into Oniwabanshu HQ. However the outcome was clear, after all, the Hitokiri Battousai always got what he wanted.

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Kaoru watched silently as Megumi sad in the chair next to her, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Somehow, she knew that she was going to stay in the hospital, never leave. She had willingly given up her freedom for the lives of people she didn't know. She still had no clue as to what her role was in all of this and for the first time in two years, she began to question. Who was Takani Megumi? Who were her parents? What was going on in the outside world? Why was she given up?

"Well, tanuki-chan, we'll have to be moving soon." Kaoru narrowed her eyes. Move where? Why should she listen to a woman, who she virtually didn't know? Why DID she listen to a woman she didn't really know?

"Why? I thought I wasn't supposed to leave the hospital."

"Tanuki, now is not the time to get a backbone. I'll explain everything later." Kaoru stared up at the twenty seven year old woman, she had enough sense to trust Genzai-sensei, but did she trust her life in the hands of the kitsune? Kaoru herself was twenty five. After 7 years of no symptoms, no relapses, she was quite sure that whatever had ailed her before was not coming back. Other than the fact that she had odd, almost fortune-telling dreams, she would say that she was quite normal.

"When are we leaving?"

"Tonight, maybe tomorrow night, just be ready." An awkward silence hung in the room, the tension so thick that it was hard to breathe. Kaoru sighed and plopped back down onto the bed, staring at Megumi.

"How are you gonna bust me out of here?" Megumi snorted, Kaoru was warming up to the idea of a Thelma and Louise type adventure. She couldn't blame her; being cooped up in a hospital for seven years of your life would tend to make you antsy.

"We'll place a bundle of kimonos under your blanket and dress you up in a white lab coat. I'm sure Kamatari won't really mind if I knock her out for a while." Kaoru giggled at the thought of Megumi knocking out the buff nurse.

"Where am I gonna stay?"

"At my place. Honestly, Tanuki, where else would you go?" The awkward silence returned and Megumi took a sidelong glance at the younger woman before rising out of her chair. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to jab at Kaoru's lack of…family.

"I've got business to take care of, be ready by 5, that's when my shift ends." Megumi flipped her hair off of her shoulders and walked slowly to the door, her heels clicking against the linoleum floor.

"Like I've got anything to get ready." Kaoru retorted as the door closed. She glanced at the clock, 10'o clock. Damn, I've got another seven hours to go.

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Kenshin raised a deliberate hand and knocked loudly, three times in succession. In the back of his mind, he noticed Sanosuke's arrival. He was always the slowest to come, while Soujiro was always early. That did not bother him, Sano's loyalty was binding and his quality of work was quite admirable. He ceased all ponderings as he felt the Rurouni twitch a disarming smile as Okina opened the door.

"Ah, Himura-kun! Come in, come in." The Battousai inwardly smirked; he was now able to come freely in and out of the Tokyo Oniwabanshu Headquarters, where Aoshi had tried to escape him.

"Okina-dono, is Shinomori-san in? I'd like to discuss something of great importance with him." Okina's face scrunched up in immediate displeasure. This caught Kenshin somewhat off guard, as Aoshi had long been in Okina's favor.

"The twit is meditating in his room. Omasu, bring him in." Kenshin raised an elegant eyebrow, since when was Aoshi a Zen Buddhist? He almost wanted to laugh out at the pain he had caused the younger man. Almost.

"And Sayo-san?" Kenshin's face remained dispassionate, although through this question he was being polite as well checking as to whether or not Sano did his job.

"Ah…well…we found her murdered by one of the Hitokiri Battousai's lackeys." Kenshin fought the twitching of his mouth when he heard the Okina call Sano his lackey. Ahhh…Sano…Sano…Sano…I will have to repay you for your sacrifice. However, the bitch had to die; she was messing up all of his plans with her damned foresight. Perhaps if he offered Sano a certain kitsune doctor he had come to know in his last visit to Tokyo. Kenshin was shaken out of his reverie by the sound of a tea cup smashing into the floor. Turning around, his feral grin was back in place at Aoshi's pale, unbelieving face.

"Shinomori-san, it's nice to see you again." Aoshi swallowed nervously and motioned Okina out of the room. Okina, of course, complied, but not without a suspicious glance back. "From you reaction, Shinomori-san, I would think you were surprised to see me." The violet vanished from his eyes and once again, their golden hue took over.

"What are you doing in Tokyo?" Aoshi's eyes had turned cold, his off white yukata and pale skin almost made him look ghostly.

"I have business here, business that concerns you as well." Kenshin delighted in the fidgeting the usually cold and impassive Aoshi was doing. He was indeed, one of Kenshin's most loyal supporters, although he supported him in secret and out of fear.

"And if I refuse?" Kenshin let out a cold, calculating laugh. They both knew the answer to that question and the fact that he had even bothered to ask it annoyed him greatly.

"You know what happened the last two times we fought. You almost died and your wife is now dead. Even then, I was not even Battousai." Aoshi's fists clenched. Sayo… "You'll do as I say." Gritting his teeth, Aoshi glared out from underneath blue-black bangs.

"Fine. What would like me to do…Battousai…sama?"

"I'd like you to find someone for me."

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Kaoru was indignant. You'd think, after seven years of being stuck in a hospital, they'd at LEAST keep her exercised. Her legs had forgotten how to walk and Kaoru clutched onto Megumi desperately. This was humiliating. Megumi couldn't get her a damn wheelchair because that'd look to suspicious. As if, this didn't look even more suspicious. However, playing the part of a drunk was a lot easier said then done.

"Kamatari-chan, I'm taking my cousin home…urgh…I can't believe that Enishi let her get drunk…" Megumi was a great actress, she actually sounded sorry…Kaoru threw in a fake hiccup for good measure and started giggling.

"Daijoubu Megumi darling, if I know you, you'd overtime yourself with that sickie in room 359. She's gonna die darlin', they all do if they're here." Megumi gritted her teeth as she nodded her goodbye and briskly dragged Kaoru to the elevator. Kaoru, on the other hand, was confused. How come no one knew that her room was 1043? If she was correct, wasn't the highest number of the rooms on each room -50? She had only known this the multiple times she had tried to escape her first two years at the hospital. Was Megumi even a licensed doctor then? Why didn't Kamatari recognize her? She was sure that Kamatari had been her nurse for the first 3 years of her life at Tokyo's Hospital for the Terminally Ill. She forced another giggle as they entered the elevator.

"Oi-! Wait up!" Megumi snapped up her head, brown eyes flashing in annoyance at tall doctor, with what she viewed to be chicken hair, and an unsanitary red bandanna. He flashed her a wide grin as he scrambled into the elevator. Megumi fumed silently. He irked her, with a sloppily worn lab coat and a carelessly tossed stethoscope; he was the epitome of the worst doctor. Readjusting Kaoru's grip on her shoulder into a more comfortable position, she flipped her hair and pressed the basement level.

"So, you work here? I haven't seen you around. I make sure I know all the pretty ladies in this hospital." He flashed her another large grin and what she guessed to be a pick up line.

"None of your business tori-atama."

"Ouch kitsune-onna, that hurt." Kaoru listened carefully as she pretended to be passed out. This just confirmed her suspicions of Megumi's authenticity as a doctor.

"Well how long have you been working here tori-atama?" Megumi sneered, venom dripped in her voice and grew indignant as the tori-atama threw back his head and laughed. He was oddly attractive when he did this. In an odd, slob, type of way.

"I dunno, this is my first day." Kaoru nearly keeled over in shock, well…that un-confirmed her confirmation.

"Then you are to be sure to tidy up. These people are dying; they should at least be tended by a clean doctor." With that Megumi dragged her out of the elevator, leaving the laughing chicken in the elevator.

"Yes ma'am!"

Megumi rolled her eyes and poked Kaoru.

"You can wake up now." Kaoru threw her a dirty look and desperately tried to stand on her own, only to succeed in toppling over onto Megumi's beaten up old Oldsmobile.

"Didn't they go out of business?" Kaoru asked, sneering as her face was plastered into the trunk of Megumi's car.

"It's not like I can afford a BMW." All my salary goes into keeping Genzai-sensei's old clinic open. Megumi shifted Kaoru off of the trunk and into the front seat. "Buckle up." Flashing a foxy smile, Megumi slammed the door shut and made her way to the driver's side when she saw the chicken head staring at her in the distance. He was in the same scrubs only quite scary and dangerous looking, hazel eyes flashing in her direction, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. Megumi shook her head, she was just seeing things. She fumbled with her keys, opened the door and plopped into the seat of the car, ignoring Kaoru's inquiring looks.

"What took you so long to open the door?" Kaoru's question was left unanswered as Megumi pulled out of her slot, and haphazardly drove down the lane. Megumi gripped the wheel of her car harder, everything outside the car didn't matter, a colorless blur.

Meanwhile, Sagara Sanosuke leaned against a black BMW, glancing out of the corner of his eyes at the speeding, dilapidated red Oldsmobile. As soon as the car sped out of his view, he flipped out his cell phone and scowled, trying to remember that damn phone number.

"Oi, Misao…yeah…yeah…no need, Zen boy wasn't lying. Ciao." Sano closed his cell and placed it into one of the pockets of his white lab coat. He then opened the door of the BMW, hopped in and looked at his partner.

"Oi, Kenshin…think you can give me a lift?"

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Makimachi Misao looked at her cell phone in annoyance, emerald green eyes narrowing. If she could, she would've smashed the cell phone, but since they were gifts from Master, she didn't dare. Smiling to herself, she stood up from her position and looked at her prisoner, giggling.

"Jiya, really, don't look so shocked." Okina glared at her from his current position, which was tied up in ropes, gagged eyes bulging in rage. Misao walked over and squatted down next to Okina. "Aoshi-sama wasn't lying, so I can let you go. Demo, it would be wise not to mention this to him, ne?" With that, Misao skipped happily out of the room to meet with her room mate.

"Ne, Misao-san, shouldn't you have untied him?" Misao cringed at the perpetual smile on Soujiro's face. She wanted to do nothing but smack that smile off of his face, but as it stood, she was the youngest vampire of Master's group and knew that she was far from being able to beat the smiling vampire.

"Lead the way, Soujiro-kun." With that, Soujiro delicately skipped around the unconscious bodies of the Oniwabanshu, grimacing at Misao, who haphazardly stepped all over them. She was utterly disappointed. She had wanted to twist Jiya's head off and place it on a platter to serve to her Aoshi-sama. The only member of Master's group not wearing traditional Japanese clothing, Misao was dressed in denim short shorts and a white T-shirt, giving the air of a school girl. There were only two things that Misao looked forward to nowadays, the promised conversion of her Aoshi-sama and the creation of Master's empire. She scrunched up her face, she couldn't quite remember why she wanted Aoshi-sama, but she did. With the loss of the soul once converted to a vampire, one also lost their memories. However, Misao giggled, Master was most surprised with her infatuation with Shinomori Aoshi.

"Ne, Soujiro-kun, do you think Master will let me convert Aoshi-sama myself?" Soujiro was disturbed, yet faced Misao smiling.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I wanna have Aoshi all to myself."

"Aa, sou desu ka? Master has a romantic side, I'm sure he will let you Misao-san."

"YOSH!" Misao ran forward in front of him, skipping out of Oniwabanshu Headquarters. Soujiro walked behind her, smile slipping from his face, before quickly returning. He stopped a moment before looking at the sullen Aoshi.

"Ne, Shinomori-san, you shouldn't smash Himura-san's expectations. It would be most unfortunate for the rest of the Oniwabanshu." Soujiro bowed and ran to catch up with the genki Misao.

Aoshi looked up, hatred burning in his eyes. He looked around at the four bloody corpses that used to be his best friends, Hyottoko, Beshimi, Hannya and Shikijo. What choice do I have?

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Sekihara Tae stared out of her squinting eyes at her customer. She was not a full vampire, only half. She shared half her Master's blood, and was part of the reason she squinted. With gold cat-like eyes, it would scare half her customers away, as well as her employees. This customer however, was the ever famous Saitou Hajime, rouge vampire hunter extraordinaire. Saitou Hajime was eating soba at her restaurant, oh how her master would be pleased if she could just kill him off now with poisoned water. However, it would be most unfortunate if she were to be caught, and without Master's permission at that.

"Oi, onna, I'd like my check." Nodding demurely, she turned to get his check. "Onna, have you ever seen this man?" Saitou shoved a picture in her face. It was a vague, badly taken, fuzzy picture of her master, Himura Battousai.

"I am sorry, I have not." She lied through her teeth, she saw this man every day that he was not incapacitated by the Rurouni.

"Then have you seen this woman?" He shoved another picture in her face, and if possible, Tae's eyes grew narrower. A picture of a ponytail-ed, dark haired woman in hospital bed and wide blue eyes greeted her. For the vampire hunter to be searching for this girl would mean much importance as to the identities of her Master's enemies. Inwardly she laughed. Her life revolved around her job for Master, her ever so important job as the information gatherer and target finder.

"Gomen, I have not. Here is your check." Saitou nodded and shoved out the money onto the table before leaving abruptly. Tae scowled as she bent over to collect the money scattered on the table and on the floor.

"Tae-san!" She whirled around to see her hired hand, Myoujin Yahiko's urgent face stare back at her.

"What is it Yahiko-kun?" She smiled, silently wanting to smack the boy and his little waitress girlfriend Tsubame…but since she sheltered them, she got free work.

"Katsu-san asked me to give this to you." Tae's eyes widened slightly at the red envelope in Yahiko's hand before taking it and placing it into her apron's pockets.

"Arigato. Now go back to work, we've got people to feed."

"Hai!" Tae frowned; a red envelope was never any good. Katsu was always the bringer of bad news.

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Megumi sighed. It was now 6:30 pm, and sneaking Kaoru out of Tokyo Hospital for the Terminally Ill was over, as well as her job there. Kaoru was safe and she was now free to work at Genzai-sensei's clinic full time. The first thing on her agenda was to make sure Kaoru could walk by herself. That and making sure Kaoru would be able to run, in case Battousai would find them.

"Tanuki, we're home free." Kaoru snorted. Here she was, in a beat up car, with a person she wasn't sure she could trust, for reasons she didn't know and this was the best situation she could possibly be in. Her agenda (as soon as she could walk again) was to get as far away from Tokyo as possible. Of course, she couldn't tell this to Megumi, whom she sort of owed quite a bit.

"So…get up and help me out of this damn car." Megumi sighed before getting out of the car and trotting to the other side and opening the car door. Kaoru promptly held out her arms and Megumi pulled her up and wrapped an arm around Kaoru's waist and Kaoru slung an arm around Megumi's neck.

"Okay, leg therapy begins here Tanuki. Try and put some weight on those wobbly legs."

"That's easy for you to say." Kaoru scowled and before long the two were bickering as they made their way to Genzai-sensei's clinic. Kaoru, however, could not hold down the dread that wouldn't leave the bottom of her stomach. Something wasn't right, but as to what she couldn't place. Stop that you dimwit. Ten minutes of freedom, and you're already becoming paranoid. Kaoru's eyes were fixed on her feet, as were Megumi's, because had either of them looked up, they would've noticed a small, rather petite man with flaming auburn hair and violet eyes awaiting their arrival.