Disclaimer: Kenshin is owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Sigh ..
~ A Memory Forgotten ~
Chapter 11
Saitou got up slowly from his desk and walked towards the door. The three of them glared at his back from behind. The man turned around and looked at the three of them casually.
"Well, why are you standing there? Let's go pay a visit to the people who took your woman," said as his mouth curled up into another smirk. I'm enjoying this too much, thought Saitou as he glanced as Kenshin. Kenshin followed behind Saitou with his eyes looking straight ahead. Sano and Yahiko trudged behind them guided by the smell of nicotine and once again in the familiar dark hallways of the Tokyo jail.
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CLICK CLICK CLICK
The sounds of Saitou's heels echoed down the dark hallway. The prisoners were getting a bit restless and nervous, (one moment they were at their hideout defending the boss and now they were behind bars).
CLICK CLICK (pause)
Saitou turned towards the door and took out the keys. Jiggle jiggle and unlocked the door. The prisoners looked up and held their breath. All was silent as they waited for their visitors to speak.
Saitou looked at the ten people in this cell. Damn, I have to go question the other prisoners after I'm done with these. Feh. He took the cigarette from his lips with his two fingers and slightly tapped it. The red ashes fell soundlessly to the floor.
The tall policeman strode over to the prisoners with another shorter man following close behind him. The prisoners fidgeted uneasily as they watched the two pairs of amber eyes glare back at them. Saitou smirked at their display of fear. He looked at the one nearest him.
"Tell us what happened. Where is Fujimoto Akane?" he asked curtly.
Kenshin glared up at Saitou seeing that he was not going to ask anything else and interjected with a low growl, "Why did you have to take the girl? Is your boss such a coward that he is too afraid to face me himself?"
The prisoner Saitou was looking at glanced at Kenshin confused. "Eh? Why? Who are you?"
Kenshin returned the same confused expression. Saitou smirked at Kenshin's look. "It's not always about you, Battousai." In realization of who the shorter man was, all ten of the prisoners' faces paled considerably.
Kenshin's face tensed. Why did they want Kaoru-dono then? In a menacing voice he demanded of the prisoner, "Tell us what happened. What is the connection between the girl and your boss?"
The man cowered under Kenshin's scrutiny and nodded quickly. He recounted to them what had taken place. Everything from where they found the girl, what the boss said to the girl, and how some mysterious attacker showed up. None of the prisoners knew anything else about the situation other than what they had seen at their hideout. They were as surprised as the girl was when the boss said that her father was part a traitor in his clan.
Kenshin and Saitou listened with expressionless faces. Sanosuke and Yahiko who were not very good at hiding their emotions had distraught looks on their faces. They were worried about Kaoru and were totally confused at what the prisoners were telling them. But Kaoru's father is dead! Kamiya Koshijiro died five or six years ago. What were they talking about? Even though Kenshin did not show it, he had the same thoughts as his protégés.
As Saitou listened to their story, he thought with a wolfish grin, this is getting more interesting than I thought.
The prisoner looked up as he continued his recount of what had happened, "Then this guy came from nowhere and tore down the door and chaos just broke out. I couldn't see him very well. I just remember going to protect the boss. The next thing I know, I'm here in jail."
"What did the man look like?" Kenshin asked.
"Iie, I'm not sure. It happened too quickly. It was all a blur, I couldn't even see him well," the man replied.
"Were any of you able to get a good look at the intruder?" Saitou questioned the entire group.
All, but one of them didn't shook their heads "no."
Both Kenshin and Saitou raised an eyebrow. "So only one of you was able to see the intruder? What a bunch of idiots," Saitou said demuringly. The prisoners grimaced at his comment. "Well, what did you see?" the police officer directed the question towards the only man who saw the intruder.
"Eh . . . . well, I heard a commotion inside the room and rushed in only to find that the boss and three other guys were running out of the building. Everything happened so fast. I wasn't able to get a view of his face, but all I know is that the man was wearing a blue gi and hakama . .. . . . and he had brownish-black hair," the prisoner replied.
"That's all you saw?" Saitou asked curtly with his eyes narrowing. "That describes about half of the population in Japan, ahou!" The prisoner slunk back against the wall.
Then Kenshin posed a question to the same man, "Do you know what happened to the girl?"
The prisoner looked at him warily and said in a small voice as he tried to recollect his memory of the event, "Umm .." He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. "I think he must have known the girl. When one of the guards had gone to attack the girl, the man had stood in front of her defending her."
This time it was Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sano who furrowed their brows in thought. Who else does Kaoru know? Why would that man protect her?
"Matte!" Yahiko interjected in a loud voice. Everyone's attention was diverted to him. He swallowed a gulp and continued, "The man who had knocked Shiori unconscious! He might be the same guy!" Yahiko was getting excited. Busu might be okay!
"Yahiko," Kenshin began, "that prisoner's description of the intruder fits with the one that you saw the night you were attacked?"
"Hai!" Yahiko replied and nodded at the same time.
Saitou examined the young samurai as he took another drag of his cigarette. "Maybe you can give a better description than that ahou over there."
Yahiko looked at him sheepishly. "Ii .. Iie .. I didn't see much either. I was half-awake because of the dart. All I saw was a man in a blue gi and hakama. However, I do remember that he was smiling."
Smiling? Kenshin and Saitou thought. No way! Kenshin's eyes widened while Saitou just took a long puff of his cigarette.
Yahiko and Sano looked at the both of them suspiciously. "You have an idea who he is Kenshin?" Sano asked.
Kenshin looked up at his friend and gave a short sigh. "Sessha .. sessha has an idea. It may be Seta Soujiro."
Sano and Yahiko choked. "T-T-TENKEN?!?!" they both said aloud in astonishment.
"Shit! Jou-chan is with that smiling freak?! We gotta go save her NOW! She might be in more trouble than we thought!" Sano said hurriedly as he started to rush out the cell door, Yahiko following his lead.
"Tori-atama!" Saitou said with a scowl. "And how are you going to find her? We have no leads."
Sano paused in the middle of his tracks and frowned. He hadn't thought of any plan to look for her, he just wanted to find her. Sano turned around to face Saitou, his muscles tensed. "I'll search all of Tokyo. I don't care."
Saitou scoffed at his reply, which only made Sano angrier. Kenshin walked up to his friend and said, "Maybe we should go look at all the doctors' offices here. Since she was injured, she may have been treated by one of them, de gozaru yo."
Sano's eyes lit up at Kenshin's idea. Good thinking, Kenshin!, he thought.
"Yatta!" Yahiko proclaimed as he started to rush out the door again. Sanosuke and Kenshin were running to catch up to him.
Saitou stood back and watched the trio while taking another long drag of his cigarette. "Idiots," he said under his breath. He turned back to look at the prisoners. Now I have to deal with these people, he thought with a grunt. The prisoners took one look at him and cowered in their shadows.
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As Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Yahiko exited the last doctor's office in the Tokyo vicinity, they all had a feeling of wariness.
Kenshin looked at the bloody blue ribbon that he held in his fist. He hadn't let go of it since that afternoon. Where are you, Kaoru-dono?, he thought sadly.
Sanosuke and Yahiko had the same feelings. They looked over at their friend who had a melancholy look on his usually cheerful visage. They had gone throughout all the known doctors' offices and had found nothing to their utter disappointment. Not one doctor had said that they treated any girl by their description of her.
Damn Jou-chan. You've got to be okay, thought Sano as he grit his teeth. He still felt guilty over the fact that he couldn't protect her that night. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to you, he thought as he angrily kicked another small stone on the dirt pavement.
Yahiko looked up at the rooster head. Ever since his sensei had disappeared, they had very rarely resorted to their usual bickering. It only made the situation worse because it seemed as if their normal lives had stopped. The little boy's heart was heavy, he couldn't bear even thinking that his busu sister would be gone. She was in many ways, a savior to him. In the beginning, she had tried to save him from the yakuza group he was in. Later, she had taught the boy kendo to help him in his quest to become stronger. And most importantly, she had given him a family. In some ways, they were probably even closer than blood-related families. Unbeknownst to Yahiko, tears had started to fill up in his eyes. Kenshin looked over at the young Tokyo samurai and saw it. He put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.
"We'll find Kaoru-dono, Yahiko," he said assuredly. Not only did Yahiko need to hear it, but both Sano and he did also. We will find you, Kaoru-dono. No matter what it takes.
By the time they reached the dojo, it was late at night. Usually the dojo was a very welcome sight for them, but however these past few nights have been quite the opposite. The quiet, solemnity of the Kamiya dojo only added to their heartache.
Kenshin half-expected to hear an "Okaeri nasai, Kenshin" like he had so often heard before he left for Kyoto when they arrived at the gate. But they were only met with the quiet chirping of crickets.
"I'll go prepare some dinner, de gozaru yo," Kenshin said to the two.
"I'm not hungry," Yahiko said in a solemn voice as he walked to his room.
"Yeah, me either. Don't bother Kenshin," Sano added as he followed Yahiko.
Kenshin walked up the familiar steps of the dojo and jumped up onto the roof. He sat down and looked up at the bright stars. Tears were beginning to sting his eyes.
Kami-sama, I know I'm not worthy to ask anything of you right now, but Kaoru does not deserve any more sadness in her life. Please take care of her wherever she is right now. And .. and .. wherever she is, please give me the strength to find her.
With that last prayer, Kenshin broke down and cried, tears streaming down drop by drop, mixing with the blood on the cloth.
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- To be continued
Author's Notes:
Please read and review! Thanks very much! I had a considerable amount of trouble writing this chapter. I myself don't really like it as much, but I wasn't sure where else to go with it. Sorry if this one is not up to par as my previous ones. =x
Saitou and Kenshin deduced that the intruder was probably Soujiro because of:
1.) Yahiko and the prisoner's description
2.) The intruder had to have been very skilled in kenjutsu to have defeated all twenty-five or so attackers at once.
3.) And also because the attackers said that they weren't able to see the intruder clearly because he moved so fast (Shukuchi)
Thanks to all my reviewers:
Nicky, AnimeFreako, wolfpack, Uenki, somebody, Princess of Darkness, Tsugoi Kakarlena, kenshinfan, kato, Souryusen, chibi, Briar, shippo, beriath, chibi frog, Luna Angel, hoots, kaoru-no-tanuki, Ana, CurlsofSerenity, pushpitake, Inugirl, tigerrelly, Califpinay3001, animelub, ranma sao, saotome, kiki, kim, john, Poohbear, Jouchano8, anime lover, Clemen, Miya-chan, Kyoznekozukigirl, nihongo55, Aino Saori, wudnt u like 2 kno, kuru kuru 17, Moonwind, Inuyasha chic 515, Ryuugirl, Volleygurly, and Sanosuke Sagara for your support!
Kay Kylo – sorry about the misspelling of your name earlier
Ayuka – Thanks for the comment =D I'm glad you like the Soujiro/Kaoru scenes. Hehe .. I'm a K/K fan also, but I'm also partial Soujiro ^_^ Yeah, there will be something like what you mentioned in the later chapters =)