AN: Rewritten October 13, 2012. Majorly changed the dynamic of Enishi and Kaoru, as well as Soujiro and Misao. Many won't remember the original, but trust me, this is for the better and much more natural.

Warnings: OOC, language. The usual.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

I Am...

Chapter 3 :: Last Wishes of the Departed

Enishi had not attempted to return to sleep. No, much had to be done before he felt comfortable returning to his chambers. It was not fear that drove him to sleeplessness tonight. He did not fear Battousai. No, no. Nothing so silly as that.

He smiled slightly, tips of his fingers pressing together as he stared down the monitor on his desk. He wanted him dead. The man was a hindrance to his plans, a thorn in his side. And he wanted revenge.

Right now though, his men had not found a trace of the assassin. He did not expect them to, either. The attack was only a warning, a promise of what he could do, a game. Enishi did so enjoy games. It made the ending much sweeter. Battousai was taunting him, trying to make him sloppy. Oh, but he was not a sloppy man. No, no, he was a deliberate, calculating man.

He would win this chess game, and Battousai's head would be his. And that would only further his ascension of power.

Smiling lazily, his eyes skimmed the content on his monitor, reading over the detailed profile and report. 'Hawatari Hikaru. Are you not an interesting creature to have gotten herself involved in my web?'

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft beeping. Lifting his phone to his ear, he inquired in a soft voice, "Yes?"

He frowned, listening to the voice on the other side. Well, now. That was interesting.

The ride was longer than Misao wished it to be. Of course, she had wished it to be over before it had begun. Tenken was not a crazy driver, in fact, he was being cautious with the consideration of them being followed, she knew. But it was cold, she was growing tired, and she did not want to be pressed against this man any more than she had to be. He annoyed her, angered her, and on some level, frightened her deeply.

No man should move that fast. Ever.

When they finally did stop, it was not anywhere she suspected was their true destination. The building was desolate, and the parking lot just the same. Unease filtered through her and she pulled back from him to look around as he killed the engine. "What," She hissed, looking around, "Are you doing?" As much as she wanted to be demanding, the agitation fluttered through her words.

Tenken craned his neck to glance back at her and smiled cheerfully, and she wanted to punch it off his face. "Don't worry. I just need the okay to proceed. We do not need anyone trailing us, no?"

She scowled, not liking this one bit, and folded her arms across her chest. Her hands were numb with cold, and she was tired enough to not pretend she liked it. "Right, whatever. So are you really the Tenken?"

His smile widened, amusement glittering in his eyes "I am."

"You don't look like I pictured."

"No?" He was grinning now, and she glared at him darkly. "What were you picturing?" He was enjoying this far more than he should, and she hated that she had said anything now.

She refused to back down at this point now. "I didn't expect a smiling freak."

His eyes crinkled, but he said nothing. It goaded her into continuing. "And you're young. And just... I don't know. You don't look at all like I expected." She refused to admit her mental image had supplied tall, dark and handsome. Not... short, cute and boyish. It was not in her constitution to admit that without committing suicide.

"I am older than you," He commented idly.

She frowned. "What makes you think that?"

That amusement was starting to wear on her. "It is a fact. I am twenty-three. You turned twenty-two last month."

Misao froze. He had done his homework, or someone had done it for him. She did not doubt he knew her real name, too. He had chosen to not address her with it at any point though, and she realized it was because he was not certain they had not been followed. "How long..." She started, before shaking his head. "How long have you been spying on me?"

Tenken tilted his head and regarded her. "Me, personally? Two weeks."

His words indicated someone else had been doing so for longer, and she suddenly felt the winter's cold much worse than she had all night. Unease settled through her, and she knew he could sense it. A sterile, continental ringtone of a cell phone interrupted her worries and he answered after two rings promptly. "Yes?" He listened for a moment. "Thank you."

The conversation was over like that and he nodded his head to her. "We are in the clear. Please hold tight."

She belatedly notice that she complied without any mental objections, arms sliding around him again, which bothered her. She also noticed he was incredibly polite. That also bothered her, but because it made it harder for her to hate him.

He stood quietly in the shadows, watching the peons of the tiger meander about in waves of incompetence. Yukishiro knew they would find nothing, but yet he still tried. Wasted effort, and he had no understanding as to why the man would bother using resources for pointless things. His eyes drifted down to the device in his palm, and a thin red brow arched delicately at the contents. There was not much there that was useful against Yukishiro right now...

But he knew how Enishi was. Greedy, powerful, and always wanting more. If he was bothering to look at this information that was unimpressive from a tactical or business standpoint, then he was looking at it from a personal standpoint.

Amber eyes glinted in the night. Nothing useful yet, but given the right circumstances... it would play a huge role in the tiger's downfall.

Smirking, he saved the information to the device before the security systems could discover the tap and turned it off. He would have to do some research of his own. For whatever power Enishi thought he had in intelligence, Battousai had it tenfold.

There was something undoubtedly wrong about the situation, and Misao was fast considering diving off the bike. Unfortunately, she did not wish to break a limb in the process, and now that they were not being followed, Tenken was not being so...careful about his driving.

The mansion they were approaching was huge and luxurious, and somehow vaguely familiar. She had not been to this part of town in years, staying low and hidden in the scum downtown that she had left just an hour prior. What was this place, and how was the Tenken connected to it?

How was she connected to it?

They passed through security that suggested much more than the luxury of the residence before her. This was not simply a wealthy place. This was a powerful place. It made her blood run cold at the possibilities. So few men had power like this. And none of them were good company.

The thought of 'it's a trap' rang through her head several times as the bike slowed to a stop inside a massive garage. Individuals moved about, whether working, patrolling or what ever else, and it was clear this was a place that never saw sleep. Someone was always busy. Another bad sign.

She let him lead her, though she stiffened at the way his hand pressed against the small of her back to guide her. The familiarity behind the motion annoyed her, but not enough to distract her from taking in her surroundings, trying to memorize the paths they walked. She would need to escape. To do so, she needed all the information she could get.

Too bad the place was a damned maze. After several turns, she suspected he was purposely taking the long way around. She opened her mouth to comment on it when he stopped, and his hand slid to her arm to make her do so as well. They stood before a set of beautiful wooden doors, a guard on either side. He smiled at her brightly. "Through here."

Misao stared at him and his expression did not falter under the scrutiny. He pushed open a door and ushered her through, and she found walking down a long draped in lavish tapestries and expensive decor. They approached a second set after several feet of the first, and Tenken stopped her from moving forward. She noticed now the change in his posture. It was subtle, but she somehow picked up on the fact that whatever was behind this door was important. Whatever was behind this door controlled him.

She frowned. What kind of man could control someone like the Tenken?

He smiled at her and rapped his knuckles three times against the wood door.

There was only a brief pause before the left side opened, and a man Misao took for a butler appeared. His hair was slicked back, and dark rings under his eyes suggested a problem with sleep. His uniform was of excellent cut, and his posture suggested despite his appearance, he held some authority. "Ah, you have returned. Shishio-sama awaits you both."

Tenken smiled and nodded his head. "Thank you, Houji-san." Anything more he could have said was cut off by Misao's sudden inhalation. Her eyes were wide, and the vice like grip he now had on her arm suggested he knew how she had intended to react.

"You fucking, goddamned liar," She hissed through clenched teeth. He had brought her straight into a lion's den. She was one step away from Yukishiro-in the fact that this man was his partner.

She would not die like this. She would not! She whirled on the Tenken, hand going to her gun. Her ponytail whipped about as she pointed at him, and her eyes were wide with anger and intent to kill.

His own were much calmer, glittering with... amusement? The bastard was laughing at her. She trembled with rage, despite the fact his own gun was trained on her, and probably had been even before her hands had found the grip of her own. "Kill me now you bastard because I will not let you make a fool out of me like this."

He smiled at her and she screamed in frustration, pulling the trigger. She would die on her own terms!

Her eyes were wide as she found her gun pointed to the ceiling, his fingers around her wrist and his breath washing over her ear. He was just too fast. Anger at herself swelled in her and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She refused to let him win. Trembling with untethered rage, she stood there, knowing that there was nothing she could do.

His words were a whisper, curling around the shell of her ear as he gently chastised, "Do not jump to conclusions so quickly. It is not as you think."

"I am not going anywhere near that man," She hissed sharply, and drove an elbow into his gut. He moved back to avoid part of the blow, but had not wanted to release his hold on her, and so he simply absorbed some of the hit. Sighing in what might have been exasperation, he pried the gun from her fingers and then tossed her over his shoulder. In the span of a breath he had crossed the room with her in tow. She was disoriented as the world came back into focus, and by the time she realized that she had even been picked up he dropped somewhat unceremoniously onto a very plush settee. It took her a moment to recover and she pushed herself up onto her elbows, her anger lost behind her disorientation.

Tenken moved to stand behind the piece of furniture, and her eyes followed him briefly before she lifted her gaze to the man who sat across from her. He was lounging on a matching settee, although his was draped with fabrics of rich, vibrant colors. His robes were black and traditional, of fine silks with detailed embroidery. A large portion of his body was wrapped in medicated gauze, and she had heard rumors about how he came to be dressed in them. He held a thin-stemmed pipe between his fingers, and softly exhaled a thin stream of smoke. Behind him, a woman dressed in nothing but a red satin robe stood with a glass of wine in her hands, the dark liquid almost gone.

It really was him. Shishio Makoto. She narrowed her eyes and met his gaze with an air of arrogance that matched few others. She was so dead.

There was a long drawn out silence as both man and woman regarded each other, one with curious reservation and the other with open, arrogant hostility. After what may have been several minutes, he smiled. "Makimachi Misao."

His voice was deep, but it was the fact he knew her name, her real name that truly unnerved her. And damn him it was showing on her face, too. She said nothing, jade green staring at him with an unreadable expression. There was no point in hiding the fact he already knew, and so she decided to find her voice and spat back out, "Shishio Makoto. The man who monopolizes the black market for illegal technology and the business partner of Yukishiro Enishi." She curled her lip as she spat the other man's name out.

He grinned, baring his teeth. "And founder of the Ten Swords."

Any words in her throat caught and she pulled her head back in what was most certainly surprise. The night had been full of them. Her eyes flickered back and forth, gauging him and the woman, as well as the butler-like man in the corner. This was...there was... She swallowed, goosebumps forming along her skin. "You're lying."

"Oh? You think so? I would lie about being the creator for something so... counter-productive to what you think I do?"

She snarled, words leaving her before she could help herself, "You mean to tell me you, who partners with Yukishiro, could be responsible for the one organization that has managed to put any amount of pressure on the underground, on him?!"

The muscle movement behind the bandages suggested he was arching a brow at her outburst. She did not care. "You're full of shit! You all are! Just stop stringing me along! I. do. not. play. mind. games." She ended her words in a punctuated hiss, fingers digging into the cushions under her. The man before her had the audacity to be bored and he looked over at the butler, "I thought you said she was competent."

She bristled, but he continued, ignoring her tirade. "Regardless of my first impressions of you, I have a debt to repay and I will do it."

A debt. She knew it. She had been found out and Yukishiro wanted her dead. Shishio was going to kill her, and he would make a sport out of it to please the bastard. She glared at him, her stomach churning at this revelation. Sweat was beading on her brow, at the back of her neck, and down her spine. She wanted nothing more than to lunge at him and rip his throat out with her teeth.

His next words shattered the world as she saw it.

"I worked with Shinomori Aoshi ten years ago."

Time stood still. Color drained from the world as her vision focused in on this man. This man she hated without ever meeting him before, based on a judgment of who she thought he was. This man...knew Aoshi. This man worked with him.

And if she was picking up on what he was saying, this man owed Aoshi a debt. One that he intended to repay through her.

She looked pale, and threatening to lose her lunch. Perspiration gathered on her top lip, and the fire left her in a whoosh, leaving behind an exhausted woman. She was tired of running, of hiding. She was tired of so very much. Tired of missing him. Tired of living. Tired of losing. Everything tired her.

Now, instead of anger, there was resignation and weariness in her visage and Shishio tilted his head, considering it. "It took time to find you. You hide well. Even my network could not keep tabs on you for long. Your resourcefulness is admirable. I wish to use your talents."

She was half listening. Praise was nothing she cared for. She knew she was good. There was nothing he could offer short of-

"And I am certain you want to help bring Yukishiro Enishi down to the depths of hell."

-That.

She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She wanted time to think, to evaluate how her life had suddenly been turned around. This was the opportunity she had been looking for, but did she really want to take it? The Ten Swords... she had known of the organization for a long time. There was very little that had leaked out about them, but with Kaoru's help, she knew that they were largely responsible for putting dents into many of the major illegal operations in the country. She could not call them moral, because Kaoru's sources indicated they had done many of their own devious things to get to the level of power they were at...but compared to men like Yukishiro, they were saints.

But could she stoop so low as to work for these people? What would they have her do? Years ago, she had honor, a sense of self-worth and morals. The Oniwabanshuu instilled a great many of these traits in her, taught her how to do her job without losing who she was.

When Aoshi died that all went to hell.

They would ask her to do unscrupulous things. She had done unscrupulous things. But for Aoshi... to kill Yukishiro, to put an end to all of this so she could die peacefully... She would do all these things and more ten times over.

Sitting up, she leaned forward and slapped her hands onto her thighs, elbows out as she stared down this man who claimed to have known Aoshi. The chance he was lying was still there but it was so unlikely, and if he was lying she was screwed well before the game started anyway. Jade eyes narrowed into sharp slits, and finally she spoke.

"Where do we begin?"

Shishio smiled.

Phoe-chan