Disclaimer: I do not own PMK or RRK.

Chapter 25: Twist of Fate

Tetsu's blood froze when he saw the row of corpses. Some wore the familiar blue-and-white uniform. No Suzu or Saya. "Puppy-kun, you missed the action. It's over!" Harada bellowed as he emerged from the building with Shinpachi. Seeing the giant, Tetsu ran to him. "Harada-san, did you see Saya? Or Suzu? He's about my age but with white hair..."

"Slow down," Shinpachi caught hold of Tetsu. "Dumb ox here can only handle one question at a time." He ducked as Harada threw a good-natured punch at him.

"Saya! She's here..." Shinpachi frowned. The raid had been chaotic. One of his men had reported a few girls escaping through a hole in the back fence. They had given chase but lost them. Well, the good news was that no woman had been killed or captured as they know. "We didn't capture any women..."

"A white-haired boy?" Tetsu asked. Shinpachi shook his head. They have searched the building and the compound. No Saya or any white-haired kid.

"We'll search again," Susumu patted Tetsu's shoulder. "They might have hidden in some room or other..." He tried to sound hopeful. "No hidden rooms, but you can try the back alley," Shinpachi called out as they passed him and Harada.

They negotiated the bloodied corridors to the backyard. The taishi were attending to their wounded and removing their dead there. The shinobi paused as he caught sight of a corpse with its throat slit open. That was no sword wound. The only weapon capable of such damage was a kunai. There was a hole in the back fence. It was the glint of steel outside that drew Tetsu's attention.

"Wait!" Susumu followed Tetsu as he stepped through the hole. The alley was equally bloody like the restaurant and the yard. Several bodies, Shinsengumi and Ishii alike, littered the alley. Two taishi were bending over an injured comrade. Tetsu picked up a sword.

Tetsu recognized it as Suzu's from the chipped hand-guard. During their duel, he had chipped it when Suzu blocked his attack. Suzu will never leave his sword behind like this unless... He scanned the alley and saw the cat. You knew where he is, don't you? As if in reply, the creature mewed and darted into a shack...

The first thing they saw on entering the shack was the sprawled body of a woman. She held a kunai in her already stiffening hand. Shinomori Kikujo. Crouching next to the body, Susumu lifted the hair from her face to confirm her identity. For a moment, he recalled his sister's death. The moment soon passed.

Tetsu peered into the dim. He caught sight of a shock of white hair. Suzu! Suzu was propped up against one of the supporting posts of the shack with his head slumped over onto his chest.

Stupid cat! Suzu groaned as the cat licked his face. Let me go in peace! "Suzu!" Great, now the cat is calling his name. Someone was shaking him. Suzu opened his eyes to see...

"T-Tetsu-baka?" he coughed weakly. The redhead nodded. He saw with alarm that Suzu was sitting in a pool of his own blood. His friend's face was bloodless under his dark skin. Hurriedly, he took Suzu's hand, bloody as it was from pressing on his wound.

Hijitaka was very surprised to see Susumu standing in the open doorway of the shack when he came to inspect the back alley. He wasn't supposed to be here! The shinobi was staring at the very dead body of a woman. He was even more surprised when he saw his redhead page talking with a very badly injured youth.

"Where's Saya?" Tetsu asked urgently. Suzu's words came out in an almost inaudible whisper as his breathing became more labored. "T-told you not too be l-late...At t-the port... Noon ferry to N-Nagasaki..." Suzu found it increasingly difficult to force the words out. He was growing cold. Tetsu's face was blurring even as the redhead leant over him.

"Suzu! Hang on, we'll get the doctor!" Tetsu urged as Suzu's eyes dimmed. "M-moron, there's not g-gonna be a d-doctor. G-go to S-saya..." Suzu forced a weak smile even as he felt his life slipping away. Unable to speak anymore, he squeezed Tetsu's hand hard.

"Suzu!" Tetsu cried out as Suzu's hand went limp and his eyes closed for the last time. We could have been friends... He let the body fall back against the post. A rough hand patted his shoulder. "Hijitaka-san?" He hadn't noticed Hijitaka standing behind him all this while.

"Well," Hijtaka said. "Aren't you going to your Saya?" Saya! Tetsu leapt to his feet.

"The noon ferry!" There's no way he'd get there on time! He thought in alarm. He fell to his knees in defeat. "Use Kondo's horse, you know how to ride, don't you? I'll explain to Kondo when he gets back from Dr Takani's." Hijitaka hauled the boy to his feet.

Tetsu had learnt to ride from Yamanami last fall. However, the horses he rode were meek beasts. Kondo's steed was a retired warhorse with a bad attitude. Only Kondo and his second-in-commands had hope of getting near the beast without getting bitten. The horse snorted and nipped Tetsu's elbow as he tried to mount it.

"Maybe I should go with you..." Hijitaka suggested. It wouldn't do for Tetsu to get thrown. "No thank you, Hijitaka-san," Tetsu said firmly as he climbed onto the beast. "I'll have him back before dinner." He took the reins and kicked the horse's flanks. The taishi were surprised to see the young page on Kondo's horse as they tore through the streets.

"He's just weak from his fever," old Dr Takani explained as he peeled the bandages back from Kondo's wound. Yamanami nodded. He should have been firmer with his friend.

"Yamanami-san?" Takani's young granddaughter popped her head into the surgery. She was a very intelligent girl for her years. "A lady asked me to pass you a message. She'll be waiting at the old shrine gate at sunset."

"Megumi-chan! You're not allowed in the surgery," her grandfather chided gently. Megumi smiled a foxy smile, flicked her long black tresses over her shoulder and left. A lady? Yamanami's head spun as he ran after the little girl.

"Megumi-chan, what does this lady look like?" The girl looked at him with innocent eyes. "Why don't you go and find out?" She winked mischievously like a fox kit he had seen once. Was it possible? Dare he hope?

Author's notes:

Bye-bye Suzu... Hope Tetsu's a good horseman. As a page, he may be expected to carry messages for his master. He will need to ride if long distances are involved, hence the riding lessons.

Foxy looking little girl at the doc's? Guess who just made a cameo.