Disclaimer: Don't own it k? The villains of this story I own and them...i don't know the gramarical term for Kai Ochita or Kasoku sooooo ya (Chibi Ochita looks around at the non-existent audience and with a shrug walks off stage).

Shadow Running

"Body count?"

"three, he was really drunk." The little girl said day dreamily.

"How drunk?"

"I'm not sure, but he kissed me on the cheek and called me oba-chan." The girl droned.

The man across the room sighed and stared at her with cold, unfeeling eyes. The killer looked around the room in an uncaring and detached way, his eyes searching the dark corners. Even though most people thought the young man that sat before her, a cold and emotionless slaughterer, the little girl knew that this wasn't the case. The man's eyes came back to rest on her and he gritted out from clenched teeth, "You're too young to be here. Go home."

"If you have forgotten your own age perhaps I should remind you. She's over half yours." A tall man said as he came out of the shadows.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that. And she wasn't over half my age two years ago." The younger said.

"I really wish you wouldn't tell her what to do. As if you have the right!" The tall man shouted his yellow, lime green eyes flashing menacingly. His unruly hair swirled about is head haphazardly, as dark as the shadows themselves, contrasting against his smooth porcelain skin. His hand twitched, fingers moving back and forth, the man being teased because he could never quite sit still which made most wonder how he could melt into the shadows so easily. He strode forward with the grace of a shadow as if that was what he had become. His movements seemed to make one wonder if somewhere he stood stationary and that the vision that one saw before them was merely a shadow being cast by some unknown source of light.

"Then you tell her to go home! Her place isn't in war and it's defiantly not next to me or you and least of all helping a plastered Tsuyako to his futon because he can barely stand up straight!"

"Please don't fight, it hurts my ears." The little girl said softly.

"And the screams of dieing politicians doesn't?!" The younger of the two men yelled at her.

The girl hung her head causing her black red bangs to fall in front of her moonlight eyes. She spoke as quietly as possible hoping the two would stop fighting to listen. She rarely spoke when she wasn't asked always seeming as though she had been stuck in a trance at an early age of which she could not break free from.

"I enjoy the sound as much as you do." She whispered quietly which in her ears resonated as a hellish scream.

Both the two listened and realized the little one was right. Not one of them enjoyed what they were doing. The younger still didn't want the girl to be here and continued to fight. He felt it wasn't right to taint something so young and innocent and was willing to let the girl hate him if that were the cost for the freedom of her soul.

"You're not here for your own reason. You're here because Rei-san is here." The younger snarled. "Demon child." He muttered.

Rei-san's skull connected with the younger man's with a sickening crack. The young mans limp form fell back from a sitting position but before he lost conciousness completely Rei looked down at him and said, "If she's a demon what does that make you? We all have out faults but it shouldn't affect our judgment. I put Tsuyako out for two days because he couldn't hold his tongue and I hit you just as hard but chances are it won't faze you that much because your skull is too damn thick!"

Kenshin's eyes widened, he sat up in his futon and rubbed his head. The feeling in his stomach wouldn't allow for sleep. The sleepy ruroni stood up and slid the door open. The wind of the midnight air whipped around his face sending his fire read hair into his eyes. He brushed it away just to have it return to bothering him, contorting his vision, making it difficult to see what was in the distance. His breath caught in his throat as he felt something far off. It was strong and familiar.

-Sessha hopes that ki isn't an angry one or sessha could be in for some trouble.-

Scratch that. We could be in for some trouble. (Battosai.)

"So you say you saw the Shi no Tenshi and Tenken no Soujiro?" Saitou asked the man sitting across from him. The man shifted uncomfortably because no one was ever at ease in the presence of the Wolf of Mibu even if they weren't aware that they were in it.

"I don't know for sure but I know that there were two, almost child-like, people carrying swords." The police man from Nagoya stuttered out.

"You said one had very dark red hair and the other had sky blue eyes and constantly wore a smile."

"Hai."

"What color were the smiling boy's clothes?"

"Blue."

"What kind of weapon did he have?"

"A nihotu I think."

"And the other."

"A big, slightly curvedâ€poleâ€a sword longer then the usual but not quite a long swordâ€and two big rings that I assumed were weapons."

"Thank you for your time, you may go." Saitou dismissed the man.

The policeman walked out the door quietly but turned around to Saitou quickly.

"Oi, Fujita-san." He called quickly.

"Aa."

"There was a kid, really young, around two or three."

Saitou just nodded then gave a fake smile and said, "Thank you."

The man left out the door, sliding it shut, the grating noise bearing on Saitou's nerves. He reached into his pocket, searching around for a cigarette. He found the box and fished one out, lighting it, and put it in his mouth. He pulled out a file with an irritated sigh and looked at it. It was the Tenken's and contained miles of pages with descriptions of various assassinations as well as basic murders. Shutting his eyes and inhaling some smoke, Saitou chuckled and said, "Hiding in the shadows isn't exactly polite."

"Of course not Saitou-san."

Saitou tensed at the mention of his real surname, calloused hand immediately flying to the hilt of his sword, clutching the frayed wrappings on the handle. He searched out for the ki of this potential opponent but found it to be low and lacking. Even so, Saitou knew not to underestimate this man, who ever he was, so keeping his hand on the sword he asked, "What are you here for?"

Somewhere in the depths of Saitou's mind he remembered that voice. He couldn't recall the smooth gentle boyish tone but it sounded so familiar that he knew he had heard it before. Putting the cigarette to his lips he inhaled deeply then exhaled threw his nose letting the smoke swirl about in front of his face while waiting for the man to explain his cause for coming to the former Shinsengumi captain.

"Tenken no Soujiro killed my father, sense your looking into his case once again I would be pleased if you would let me assist you."

Saitou smiled. Of course he had heard that voice before. It was that stupid brat. He leaned back in his chair and let out a small chuckle.

"Okubo Setsuna, what actually makes you think that you could possibly take down the legendary Tenken? What are you going to do to him? Talk him into a corner?" The Wolf of Mibu asked the little politician.

"I'm looking for revenge and I've found a way to follow it through. I'm merely asking you to let me be apart of the capture of Tenken no Soujiro. I will bring that man to justice!" Setsuna scowled walking out of the shadows. His calm dark brown hair framed his face nicely and his darker brown eyes glittered with irritation.

Saitou let out a bark of laughter.

"Your idea of justice would, of course, be putting the boy to death. The government, as you well know, has other plans for him."

"He deserves to die! If you won't do anything about that then I will!" The boy's ki flared and Saitou almost jumped. The kid could hide his ki better than most. Not only that but it surprised Saitou just how much kenki the young man possessed.

"Be my guest, but don't be surprised when I arrest you." Saitou snapped.

He heard the unsheathing of a sword and almost got out of his chair when it stopped short and slid back into the sheath.

"A wise decision Setsuna-chan." Saitou sneered, "It would be a shame to arrest a politician's son for the assault of a police officer."

Setsuna laughed, "You don't even live up to your own moral, neh? Aku Soku Zan? If the Tenken isn't evil I don't know who is!"

Saitou was out of his chair in mere seconds having drawn his sword planning to gatotsu the stupid brat to the wall. He thrust forward but the boy was quick, drawing his sword and knocked Saitou's sword off track so that it hit the wall instead of him. Before anything else could happen a knock sounded at the door. The boy grinned and sheathed his sword, patiently waiting for Saitou to answer.

"I'm busy! What is it?" Saitou snarled.

Chou's voice, slightly muffled by the door, could be heard on the other side. He sounded a bit anxious.

"There have been two assassinations, one in Osaka and the other in Hokkaido."

Saitou cursed beneath his breath. He turned his golden eyes to Setsuna, glaring, and growled, "I don't have time for an ahou like you. Get out."

Setsuna flashed Saitou a cocky grin before striding over to the door and sliding it open, walking out past Chou who stood there stuttering something unintelligible and sweating.

"What is it Chou?" Saitou said irritably.

"In Osaka we saw signs of shukuchi, and on the wall smeared in blood was the name Tenken. In Hokkaido the Kage's name was smeared on the wall, but there was no indication that anyone had come in or out. The only proof that anyone was there was the dead man, the writing on the wall, and this" Chou held up an obsidian arrowhead tied to a small cord, "imbedded in the man's throat to disable any hope he had of alerting anyone, and then it was torn upwards into his jugular vein bleeding the poor bastard to death."

Saitou's eyes widened. In his minds eye he saw a man holding up that obsidian arrowhead and with that lively, mischevious, smile that he had, showing that he thought that life was nothing but one big joke he heard him say-

: It's imoto-chan's (little sister) birthday today and I was hoping you could give this to her for me. I had one a long time ago and she always admired it. :

-It looks like the past has come back to bite me in the ass.- Saitou's thoughts snarled at him.

"Who was it?" Saitou tried to keep his voice steady but there was a slight hint of a waver as guilt attacked his heart.

"Hell! I don't know who killed 'em!" Chou shouted surprised that Saitou would ask something like that.

"Not the assassin, bakayarou! The politician!" Saitou shouted at Chou. The wolf was amazed at his assistant's stupidity.

"It wasn't a politician. The man's name was listed as Sugimura Yoshie but his real name was Nagakura Shinpachi Noriyuki. He was a kendo instructor but something seemed wrong about it so after my trip to Hokkaido I stopped by the embassy of internal affairs and found out his real name as well as the fact that he was Kumichou Nibantai (captain of the second troop) of the Shinsengumi." Chou was sure Saitou was going to pin him to the wall for being the barer of this bad news.

Saitou stared stunned off into space. Not only had one of his friends and comrades been alive without his knowledge but now he was dead? The pain of a friend dieing tore at him. He wanted to kill something but that would be rash and Chou was too valuable. He strode over to his desk and sat down almost defeated in his wooden chair letting it creak and groan with the force from him practically falling on it, putting his elbows on his desk and face in his hands.

"Boss?" Chou asked, never having seen that expression on his employers face.

All of a sudden Saitou jumped to his feet and shouted, "DAMN HER!!!". As he said this, his fist came down on his desk and pulverized the wooden piece of furniture as if he were using Sano's Futae no Kiwami.

Soujiro looked up at the sky as it clouded. He shivered and held Kasoku closer to him to stop any of the warmth from leaving the two as well as shielding the little boy. A month had gone by and nothing bad had happened sense the day of the rain without clouds. Last night they had stopped at an inn and stayed for the night. They paid by the money earned from odd jobs they had performed for the elderly. Ochita slid her hat off her head and let it rest on her back. Kai looked up at her and stared at her eyes. As much as the boy would deny it, he too was fascinated by the moonstone orbs. Soujiro gazed at her face, the dazed expression that never left it, its feminine touches accented by the dimming light. He looked at her dark blood colored hair and saw that it was one big knot of small braids that came out from a pony tail. The girl stopped by a tree and leaned against it. Kai knew what that meant and began to grumble.

Ochita and Soujiro were going to practice. Kai gave Ochita his shinai and Soujiro barrowed Kasoku's. The little boy clapped his hands together happily because he always liked to see his oka and otou spar.

"Seta-san?" Ochita asked.

"Hai, I'm ready." Soujiro replied, tapping his feet on the ground to set the beat at which he would run.

The two shot at each other, both going faster than what the human eye could track. Soujiro hit the blur that was Ochita with his sword but wasn't surprised to see that she parried. They forced each other back and took off again circling each other to look for and opening. It was hard for Soujiro to find an opening because Ochita's form looked contorted and fuzzy. He tried to attack from behind as Ochita began to turn. He was surprised to see Ochita flip backwards over his shinai. Before Soujiro could parry Ochita smashed her sword into his back and he went flying.

-Why do I keep trying to use cheep tricks on her?- Soujiro wondered as he got to his feet, tapped them, and took off running again.

He was suddenly struck by a brilliant idea. Perhaps if he knew the mechanics of the way she ran he could find a weakness in it. Only problem was Ochita never left a trail except at the beginning when she rocked back on her heals and slid her toes back.

-Perhaps she wouldn't mind explaining it to me.- Soujiro pondered what to do and looked at the blurry forms feet. They weren't...

-the whole blur is inches of the ground! How the hell does that work?!- Soujiro's mind screamed at him. Was Ochita really running on nothing?

Soujiro stopped causing Ochita to stop, cock her head to the side in a cute manner, and ask in her daydreaming voice, "Is something wrong Seta-san?"

"Ochita I just noticed something very strange."

"So ka?"

"Hai."

Kai piped up, "How could you notice something? You can't even see her."

"I can see her when I'm running at full shukuchi." Soujiro replied in his happy cheerful tone.

"Well then, that explains a lot." Kai muttered.

"Your feet don't touch the ground when you're running." Soujiro said, his same emotionless smile plastered to his face.

"Aa." Was all Ochita said.

"How does this work?" Soujiro asked curiously.

"Whoa, Whoa, Koumori-san runs on air?" Kai asked his eyes bugging.

"Oka!" Kasoku cheered.

"Aa." Ochita whispered.

Whether she was answering Kai's question or acknowledging Kasoku, Soujiro didn't know. He looked into her emotionless eyes that stared upon him like a dead man's. Soujiro shivered but it had nothing to do with the windy weather.

"What do you call your running skill?" Soujiro asked, his interest only increasing.

"Kage Hashiru (shadow run)." Ochita said in a zoned out state.

"How does it work?" Soujiro questioned.

"I rock back on my heels and slip my toes back only slightly so that they are off the ground. When resistance and force become zero I push off. Yet, just as light hits an object, for a split second a shadow isn't cast as the way that for a very short amount of time after I push off resistance and force are still at zero. Everything has solidity then, even air. I push off again and the time is reset. This allows me to run on nothing and leave no trace just as a shadow leaves no trace hence the name 'shadow run'."

"So if I were to compare that to anything it would be like pushing off vertical walls of air with each foot and stride step to accelerate yourself?" Soujiro almost ara'd at the thought.

"Aa." Ochita nodded.

Soujiro smiled.

-Too easy- he thought as he concocted the perfect plan to win at this game.

The fact that she didn't touch anything when she ran was a good thing in most instances but there was a big disadvantage in one particular area that Soujiro happened to excel in.

"Now that I have a better understanding of your running mechanics I'm pretty sure I'll have an easier time." Soujiro announced.

Ochita's lips twitched upwards and Soujiro knew it was meant to be amused and mocking laughter, "So ka?"

"Hai." Soujiro was grinning and cackling evilly on the inside but his face didn't show it.

Tapping his feet he took off again. Ochita did exactly as planned and ran straight to him. Soujiro swerved to the side and ran for the object that would help him defeat Ochita. It was the tree Kai was leaning against. Ochita saw what Soujiro was doing and went for the tree on the opposite side of the field. But, alas, Soujiro got to his tree first causing a startled yelp to emanate from one bratty boy. As with shukuchi, the user could run up walls. Soujiro saw that Ochita, running on air, would have to miss a step in her run to turn up the tree. Soujiro hoped that Ochita was too used to pushing of air instead of solid objects and he was right. He pushed off right before she did, Ochita pushing off to hard because no matter what air would never have as much solidity as a stationary object, therefore she couldn't run on air afterwards. They met in the air with a large crack but because Ochita had pushed off instead of using her run Soujiro knocked her out of the air. She had been going slower then him and he also weighed a great deal more than her considering she was roughly 4'7 feet tall.

Ochita fell to the ground with a "Reh?" and a loud WOMP. Soujiro descended, and lightly landed on his feet. Inside his head, chibi Soujiro was cheering, doing flips and cartwheels. Losing while sparing always made him feel something he didn't want to. Vulnerability and weakness. Ever sense he started sparing with Ochita he'd lost to her superior speed. He'd finally found the flaw, and as he stood there waiting for the dust to clear he felt a sense of accomplishment that he hadn't felt in a very long time. His content sigh was the only thing that could have hinted his happiness.

WACK! WACK! WACK!

"ARARARARARARARARA!!!" Soujiro yelled as he fell, face-first, into the ground.

"You exploited my weakness, which was very good, but you let your guard down too quickly, very muchly so." Ochita whispered in the swirly eyed ruroni's ear.

Kai came running into the half settled dust cloud.

"Daijobu? What happened?" He asked franticly.

"Seta-san knocked me out of the air." Ochita droned.

"Then why is he on the ground? And why the heck aren't you mad at him for hitting you?!" Kai wanted to know seeing as Ochita always batted him out of the air when he tried to hit her.

"I don't get mad," Ochita whispered and a small twitch came to her lips, "I get even."

"We're going to Kyoto!" Kaoru shouted at the top of her lungs.

The black haired, sapphire eyed girl ran about on the enigwa happily in excitement. She couldn't wait to see her sea-green eyed ninja friend. And Kaoru would get Misao to wear a kimono if it was the last thing she ever did. She stopped when she saw Kenshin sitting on the enigwa, his eyes shadowed by his hair, looking at the ground in a serious, deep contemplation.

"Kenshin?" She questioned.

"Aa?" He answered, but unlike Kenshin's normal cheerful tone his was flat and emotionless.

"What are you doing?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin's hand flew to his head and he slightly hit himself yet tried to cover it up by scratching the back of his head. He then turned his face upwards and his cheerful violet eyes stared back up at her. He smiled sweetly and sliding his hand back to his neck he chirped, "Oh, Sessha is just thinking de gozaru yo."

"Thinking about what?" Kaoru asked as she sat down next to him.

"....Nothing, really." Kenshin smiled.

"Are you sure? You looked quite pensive a few seconds ago." Kaoru pointed out.

"Ha...well...Sessha was just daydreaming." Kenshin sighed.

"You know, you work to hard around here. You need a vacation and that's exactly what we're doing. Tomorrow we leave for Kyoto!" Kaoru shouted exitedly.

"Oro?"

"My, My, Ochita does keep strange company doesn't she?"

Ichi didn't say a word, just stared into the fire, letting the flames dance against his shinny black eyes. He stood there, motionless, with no expression on his face along side his twin brother.

"Well, it was wise of you to pick another person to frame. It'll just frustrate the Wolf." Namotaru smiled wickedly. He then continued, "I've found someone else to take care of the Tenken though. But first we must wait until they reach Kyoto and they will, they just need a little push."

Ichi and Ni nodded, they put on their police man hats, turned around, and walked out of the western style mahogany doors. A figure stepped out of the shadows.

"So Setsuna-san, how exactly are you going to kill Tenken no Soujiro?"

Soujiro felt akward. He was in the same room as Ochita, again. He looked at the cedar framed shoji door and wished it would open by itself so that he could escape. But he couldn't and he wouldn't. It had been a tiresome week especially teaching Kai the basics of shukuchi which he had been doing for the past month, save this week was harsher then most. The boy could become faster then most trained swordsman but he couldn't stop and Ochita would constantly have to catch him when he tripped, lest he be pulverized by the sheer force he exerted. Kai was an extremely quick learner, almost insanely quick to copy things. He didn't exactly have the necessary leg power to even go 16 down from shukuchi but he had enough to get everything started and he would build on that. Much to his surprise, once Soujiro had shown Kai, Kasoku had taken off with shukuchi, and because of his superior leg power he was faster then Kai, which only upset the 12 year old.

Soujiro had taken a bath as had Ochita, Kai and Kasoku. He had on a white sleeping yukata and slipped beneath the blankets of his futon, which was situated right next to Kai's. Ochita was on the other side of the room laying peacefully beside Kasoku who was making small noises in his sleep. Kai seemed restless and he tossed and turned in his futon until Soujiro asked, "Daijobu?"

"Hai. I just can't go to sleep." Kai whispered.

There was a silence for some time as Kai continued to toss and turn but he soon turned on his back, folded his arms behind his head and asked a, in Soujiro's opinion, very random question.

"What do you think the worst way to die is?"

Soujiro thought of all the ways he had killed people, and then all the ways a person could die and he found himself short on an answer. He contemplated the question carefully, not wanting to go into detail on a gruesome death to close to Kai's bedtime. Nightmares was something Soujiro refused to give the kid.

-What is the most helpless way one can die? If I figure out the answer to that question then I'll have my answer.-

Soujiro finally had it and replied, "Suffocation by drowning."

"Is that a fear of yours?" Kai asked trivially.

"Iie. I can swim but it just seems that if you couldn't then you'd be totally helpless. It's the only situation besides disease that I can find where one is totally vulnerable to death. Besides which it would take a long time for you to die." Soujiro answered back in a small yet cheerful voice. He didn't feel happy about it though.

"Do you have any fears?" Kai asked idily, as if he were just passing the time instead of being truly interested.

Soujiro thought for a moment. Did he? He was emotionless but did that leave him devoid of fear. Maybe he wasn't so emotionless. His fears and worst nightmares were something he hid well but it didn't mean he didn't have them.

"If anyone of you died. That is defiantly my greatest fear. To not be able to protect the people I care about. To be helpless and weak." Soujiro replied in a soft voice that didn't quite hold a quiver but could have had he thought of the answer more.

"Me too. Even if it was Koumori-san, no, especially if it were Koumori-san. I don't know why but when I look at the way she looks at you or me or the kid it makes me angry. Like she doesn't care. I start to wonder if she has any fears. Do you think she does?" Kai asked.

Before Soujiro could answer he heard Ochita's soft voice.

"Many fears, very muchly so."

Both Kai and Soujiro almost jumped out of their futons. The blankets almost slid off of them and Kai had sat up straight.

"Shit, Koumori-san you scared the crap out of me!" He whispered harshly.

Ochita turned around slowly and stared at both males with dazed moonstone eyes. There was a piercing silence that lasted a split second yet to both Soujiro and Kai it felt like forever. Ochita lifted her hand and put it out in front of her moving it about as if she were touching something only she could see. She did this for a while, looking at whatever the invisible object she touched was. Soujiro looked at her hands. Her palms were small but her fingers were twice the length of her palms and slender, nimble, looking like spiders legs, which was a bit creepy. He had put his hand up to hers in comparison once and found out that her fingers were about a joint bigger than his. It was like her fingers were made to hold weapons.

"I do care, very muchly so."

Kai blushed knowing she had heard him. He just sighed and lay back down.

"Well, what are they?"

"What are what?" Ochita asked.

"Your fears, Koumori-san." Kai muttered.

"Besides the obvious fear that one of you would dare die on me I also fear Tabi, waragi, geta sandles, western style beds, Kimonos, Strange gold haired gaijin girls in little white dresses with bows in their hair, meat, scare crows, weapon factories, small spaces, really tall or big people, and a few choice emotions." Ochita said in a daydreaming voice.

Soujiro and Kai: 0o; o0;

"Sorry I asked." Kai said in an exasperated tone.

"Now that your questions have been answered try to get some rest."

"Hai."

Kai tossed and turned in his futon a little longer but eventual fell asleep. He confirmed this to Soujiro with the small sleepy noises he made. Soujiro thought a little longer on what Ochita had said. He rolled over and stared at the shadowed corner with his sky blue eyes.

-I don't like scare crows either.-

Important! Important! Important!

Nagakura Shinpachi Noriyuki was in fact a kendo instructor in Hokkaido after the Bakafu. He died at the age of 76 in1915 okay. I just used the name and stuff so.....ya he was still alive at the time this fanfic takes place. His alias was really Sugimura Yoshie though.

Arigato! For the reviews of course. Please keep reviewing even if it is criticism it is accepted by me for I know sometimes my writing may seem incompetent to those of us who are extremely good writers very muchly so. I would like to announce my wonderful reviewers and personally thank them.

Bastet Solarwind

caljay123

himura2123

MaskOfEternalDarkness

naniek

Shahrezad1

SamuraiGirl

Dreamchasereternity

Rachael

Arigato, very muchly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!