Mirai No Yakusoku: Part 14 - The Hunted

Mirai No Yakusoku
Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Rurouni Kenshin belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shuiesha, Sony Music Entertainment, and associated parties. The characters of this series are used without his permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.
This is my first attempt at the art of fanfiction. Please be gentle. Comments are greatly appreciated!!!
Notes:
The title means "Future's Promise" in Japanese. . . . . All the characters I create belong to me.
Japanese Names:
(Sagara) Yuukiko = the characters of Brave + Child
(Myoujin) Kakushin = Core/Heart
(Seta) Yuunosuke = The character for Brave + nosuke ^.^
(Niitsu) Keiko = Graceful + Child
(Same name as Megumi and Sano's youngest in RK: A New Era)
(Kamiya) Nozomi = Character for Hope
(Yamamoto) Akira = Character for Light
(Sagara) Mai - written as Truth and Only
(Sagara) Sou - written as Concept/Idea
(Sagara) Fumi - written as Sorcerer and Beauty.
(Myoujin) Yutaro - written as A Reason, Many, Sons
Yoko-chan (ardith@hanabatake.com)
http://www.hanabatake.com

Mirai No Yakusoku: Part 14 - The Hunted

The lights of Tokyo twinkled merrily above them as the walked through the city. Fumi did not pull away when Rei took her hand in his. Somehow, his warmth comforted her. It felt right. She frowned as she heard the tinkling ring of her cell phone.

"This is Sagara. No, sir. No, sir. Of course. I'll see you in the morning, sir. Okay, afternoon." The way she had speaking had that respectful restraint that he associated with rigid discipline. The possibility made him smile. She might not think too much of his hobby....

"Interpol," she said, answering his silent question. "I'm working undercover on something."

"That gives some explanation for the little girl outfit. Still, you look like you aren't out of your teens."

"That's the main reason they picked me. Listen, I don't want to talk about this."

"I understand. And what do you do?" he asked himself out loud, since she did not seem to be curious. She blinked up at him with those eyes and he felt his heart hitch and plunge.

She couldn't help but smile at him. He seemed younger now, more relaxed. "Fine. What do you do?"

"My love, I am a business man. Financier extraordinaire." He smiled lopsidedly at her. The cigarette in his mouth forgotten. He blinked twice, his eyes skidding away from her face, only to return.

She sighed hard. "What else?"

"Huh?"

"You aren't telling me everything." She could tell. He could never lie to her. He always did that eye thing when he was trying to.

"Of course I am. I-," he paused at the fierce look in her eyes.

"Spill it, Rei. I can tell when you are keeping things from me." He loved the way she said his name. Even when she was oh so angry. He loved how she got angry with him. His eyes gave himself away with her, he remembered. He sighed and gave up the fight. She was the only one who could get to him.

"My father was part of the yakuza." She blinked and absorbed the implications. Ah, he loved the way her mind worked. "Of course, I still have my pinkies." He showed them to her, wiggling them as if to prove they were real. Her eyes narrowed and he spilled more guts. "He was executed. A work hazard he knew about. I'm clean, for the most part, I promise. I was left to make my own way."

"Your mother?"

"She's dead." There was more to that, she could tell, but she did not push him anymore. "Fumi," he whispered, his voice gruff. "I…"

"I understand. You don't want to talk about it. Don't worry about it."

"No. I need to know all about you. You probably need the same from me." He stood up and took her small, soft hand in his. She smiled and let him lead her into the night.

Yuukiko slammed the phone down. She had tried 10 times. No answer. Neither of her parents was picking up the phone. They weren't answering their cell phones, either. Where were they? She took a deep breath of the early morning air, striving to calm herself. She didn't know why she felt so edgy, but something was wrong.

"What's up?" Aya asked, talking around the takiyaki she was eating for breakfast. Rui quickly grabbed the remaining half before she could stuff it in her mouth. She slapped his hand as he stuffed the warm, fishtail shaped end of her crisp red bean stuffed sweet bread in his mouth.

Yuukiko smiled at their antics, but the strain showed on her face. "Um. Nothing. I just can't get in touch with my parents. I tried calling before we left for school and they weren't answering."

"Maybe they're busy. You're parents are always busy," Aya reminded her. "I'd be worried if they were sitting at home by the phone waiting for your call."

"But they aren't answering their cell phones either." Yukiko worried at her hair, twisting it around her fingers again and again. Cell phones were everywhere in Japan and her parents would be lost without theirs.

"You're really worried." It wasn't a question. Yuukiko didn't worry over little things.

"It's silly, but I can't shake this feeling that something is really wrong." She looked like she was going to cry. "I should have gone home with them last night. They just insisted that I stay at the dojo."

Rui got up. "I'll get Kakushin."

The girls watched as Rui walked off to find their friend. "Yuukiko?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you getting one of those weird feelings?"

"Yeah. We should hurry."

*****

The door was opened. Yuukiko felt her stomach drop as she reached for the handle. Her parents would definitely not leave the door to their home ajar.

"Mom? Dad?" Yuukiko started yelling. Something was wrong. It was very wrong. Oh so wrong. "Where are you guys?"

"Yuukiko, wait." Kakushin pulled her back. "Don't just rush in." There was a stillness in the house that he was familiar with, at least in dreams.

"Let me go. Something is wrong," Yuukiko returned, her voice cracking with strain. Kakushin didn't loosen his grip, but ran with her to her parents' room. Even before she opened the door, he knew. Dammit! That smell. Death.

"Oh. God." Yuukiko fell to her knees. "Oh, God." The blood. It was all over. Tears filled her eyes and the world began to waver. "No!" she screamed. She could see her father from the doorway. His body was in the bathroom. His throat was slit, his stomach cut open. Her mother lay on their bed. He did more than slit her throat or stomach....

Mommy.

She didn't want to know. She didn't want to believe. Her beautiful mother. Her father. Words written in blood marred the walls of her parent's beautiful home.

I'm waiting for you. Where are you? Come to me.

"Kakushin," she whispered and felt his arms around her. She fell into his warmth and struggled not to gag. She lost the battle and ran to the other bathroom. Kakushin was ashen as he followed her.

"I'll call the police," Aya whispered, shakily. Rui quickly moved forward before she could faint.

"Don't touch anything except the phone," he said flatly. He looked around, forcing himself to make note of the details. Fucking bastard. He had shown no mercy.

"Rui... They were the nicest-" The words choked her. She couldn't believe that this could ever happen. Not to Yuukiko's larger than life parents. She shakily dialed for the police, her voice strained as she whispered what they had found. She would not break down. Yuukiko would need them all strong. She felt Rui's warm hands pulling her towards him, heating her much too cold skin. He looked as pale as she felt.

"He wants her. He wants Yuukiko..." Someone was watching her, wanting her. Rui felt his stomach tighten. He knew that Kamiya Kaoru was murdered in much the same way in the past. Was someone trying to take her life again?

"No. He's not going to have her. No." The sounds of sobbing echoed from the other room. Yuukiko never cried. The tears she shed now, the wracking sobs, cut into Aya's heart.

"The bastard is going to pay. I want to cut out his heart myself.... " Rui looked over to where Aya was standing. There was a hard look in her eyes. Whatever innocence she had in this life seemed to be burned away. He imagined Yuukiko would have the same look, as well. Whoever this son of a bitch was, he was going to make him pay.

"Protecting her is our top priority," she stated flatly. "And he's going to pay." She closed her eyes and leaned into her love as the approaching sirens wailed. "For everything. No way is he going to get her." She remembered Yuukiko's flat voice describing her death before and shuddered. That was not going to happen again. Not if she could help it. "I'll kill him first. He's the hunted."

Her cell phone rang, the twinkling ring suitable for the high school girl she was supposed to be. She reached for her purse beside her bed.

"Hello? Takashi?" Something was wrong. Takashi wouldn't call at... she peered at the clock... noon. Not when she had stayed very late into the night for the sting operation.

"Sorry about this sir, but you better get to your brother's house right away."

"What happened?" Rei watched as her face paled. "Takashi. Don't dick around. What happened?" She sucked in a breath. "What?" She sat up in bed. "That can't- Oh God. Yuukiko. Shit. I-I'm going. Can you get me the pictures, details? I need reports. I need the updated information." She glanced at the time. Noon. "When did she find them?"

Rei sat up and started dressing. He was going to go with Fumi. His skin prickled with uneasiness. He strove for calm. Fumi would need him.

"Are you still at the crime scene?" She whispered. She shuddered, thinking of her brother's house as a crime seen. At his answer she closed her eyes in pain. "I'll be there." She pushed the button to end the call and sighed. She felt brittle. Warm arms pulled her close to a warmer body. "Rei. I have to go. Someone..." She choked on the words. "My brother and his wife have been murdered."

"Shit." He touched her face, not wiping the tears away, but holding her. "Okay. Let's go."

"You don't need to come." She looked at him, determined to be strong. She needed to be strong for her family.

"Fumi. I'm coming with you." She needed him and he was going to be there for her.

*****

Fumi had to go talk to her bosses before she could see her niece. Rei understood and went in to tell the child that everything would be okay. He would kill the sick bastard himself for putting that look of pain in his love's face. That same look was in the girl's eyes. Yuukiko.... Her eyes were very familiar, as were the eyes of the boy who held her in his arms.

"Hn. I see you don't change much. You still look like a girl."

"Saitoh." If the boy was surprised, he hid it well. The teenager who was holding whom he assumed was Fumi's niece so lovingly smiled at Rei, but his young-old eyes were watchful.

"Seeing that you have your arm around my lover's niece, you might as well call me Rei. The pair of you finally got together."

"Sai- Rei. Why are you here? Did you say lover?" Her voice was rough, but still very familiar. Kamiya Kaoru. Her face was a face from the past. The shape of her eyes…was the shape of Fumi's.

"Idiots," he said, but not unkindly, "I'm here to help."

*****

Fumi was pulled given time off, but it boiled down to them pulling her from the case. As much as she was pissed off at her superiors for their heavy-handed decision, she was grateful. Yuukiko would need her. "I want to be kept informed. Of everything. This bastard is going down. But I have to be with Yuukiko right now," she explained to Takeshi. He smiled sadly at his superior and told her that she would be kept up on any developments. After getting that promise from him, she left to find Rei and the children.

"Yuukiko." Fumi had her in her arms before she could speak, say anything. She held her niece and let her cry as she cried herself. Yuukiko looked so pale, haggard. So young, but her eyes had seen too much. Fumi seethed inside. This shouldn't have happened. She should have been able to catch the bastard, but the stakeouts, the studies and profiles amounted to nothing. She wanted to rage against the world. Wanted to strike at something, but she had to hold on to what was left of her family at the moment. She had already seen the pictures. The words written on the wall in the same hand as the others. This time he had expanded his message. Sick fucker.

"Y-you came. I thought you were undercover. Dad and mom...." She fought the urge to get sick again, struggled not to cry. The images were horrible. "Aunt Fumi, they… oh god…"

"Baby, I'll always come if you need me." But her job would have taken her here anyway. She hugged Yuukiko, trying to help her find her balance. As if either of them could find it. The position of Mai's body. Exactly the same as the girls. Her brother was the only thing different.

He had been taken by surprise. He would have fought him off, she knew. Defense wounds on his arms. The room had been a mess. Mai would have tried to help him. She closed her eyes and tried to picture what happened. Did she got knocked out? Her brother's throat was slashed, but the killer went back to his body again for more fun. Mai was abused before she was cut up. Fumi hoped in her heart that she had died before he did those horrible things to her, but something told her that Mai had been alive. His style seemed rushed, she thought, struggling to clear her mind and think like him.

Who do you want? Who are you waiting for? She hugged Yuukiko tighter, looking down at her face, pushing her hair back from her face. Then it struck her, the facts fell into place in her mind. This murder was the same, yet different. There was more rage, less control here. Why? Why? Her mind raced as she stared into her eyes, tossing ideas left and right. The other girls were practice. Practice made perfect.

Last night was not perfect. It was rushed and angry. Like a little boy being thwarted. She pictured the bodies of the girls, their long hair arranged delicately around their faces. Their faces, calm in death. Their bodies, tortured. The physical similarities between all the girls were noted. Last night was different. Physically, Mai did have the same body type as the girls. Her face shape was even the same. But he seemed more brutal in his attack. Frustrated. Thwarted. She looked down at her niece as she smoothed her black hair from her face. Suddenly she put it all together. "He-He wants you...."

"Fumi." Rei stood in the doorway with a boy. One of Yuukiko's friends. "We have to talk."

"Okay. Don't tell me. Dreams." At his curt nod, she gathered her niece close to her and hugged her. "Don't worry, baby. I'm going to nail this bastard."

The dojo was filled with people. Kakushin grandparents opened their home to Fumi, Yuukiko and even Rei. Aya, Rui, Nozumi and Akira were there as well. The gathering seemed like a war council. Yuukiko was pale, but calm as her friends gathered around her. The knowledge that someone wanted her, wanted to do those things to her hung silently in the air.

Yuukiko had been silent as Kakushin and Rei explained to Fumi about the past and the present. Fumi seem to absorb the implications well. Her well-trained mind began to race. Yuukiko was the key to everything. Something told her that this was going to be a messy fight.

They were all connected with dreams, psychically chained to each other. As hard as it was for her, Fumi accepted those facts. One could not explain the dreams away. And the connections between all of them could not be denied.

"The killings started a two years ago. In the US," she began. Her throat felt tight with strain. "All along, it was the same type of girl. Teenage girls with long, dark hair. All of them were tortured and them murdered. There was some sexual abuse, but no DNA evidence was left. The son of a bitch was careful. But the MO was still the same. Notes were left were the body was found. All with the same style of writing.

"When the murders started happening in Shibuya, some smart detective caught the connection and Interpol was brought in. Since I fit the type of the girls who were found, I went undercover to find out any info. We tried Shibuya first because several of the girls were taken from there. All we know is that the murder is some where in Tokyo. Since subways and trains make it easy for people to move about, we don't know where. He may also have his own car or have access to one so that he can pick up girls without anyone seeing them.

"If he is after Yuukiko, he might strike at anyone in this group. We know that he will kill men as well as women. I want all of you to stay with each other or be with someone at all times. Someone you know and trust. I don't know how old the killer is. For all I know, he may be going to the same school as you all." Fumi took in a shaky breath. She looked at the children's faces and sighed. Everyone was so young. The youngest pair was dressed in middle school uniforms.

"Che. At least the word is on the street now," Yuunosuke muttered. "Girls should be more careful now. At least they can double up. That should help. And if he tries anything, we'll get him."

"One would think that the killer would be smarter than that, aho." Rei returned.

"Shut the hell up, you bas-"

"Yuu-kun." Keiko placed her hand lightly on his arm. "This is not the time or place. And anyway, anything you all felt about each other is in the past. The present is the important part."

"Remember, Keiko, it's the past that's driving this killer," Yuukiko said softly. Her voice was roughened from her tears. The time for crying was over. "The past and the present are entwined. This time… " Yuukiko's voice turned hard. "This time, he is not going to get away with this. I won't let him."

"Yuukiko…" Aya whispered. She thought Yuukiko had looked just about ready to shatter, but Yuukiko was much stronger than that. She had to be.

"Best you look after your woman, Kakushin," Rei said dryly.

"She's right. This has to end, Rei-san," Kakushin said quietly.

"Nothing is going to happen to you, Yuukiko. Nothing." Nozumi said quietly.

"No. Something is going to happen. Whether it's good or not, that's yet to be seen," Yuukiko said quietly. This serious eyed girl was what Kaoru never had a chance to be those. There was no more innocence in her eyes, but strength. Kakushin moved closer to her as if to comfort. "It's not about revenge. We just have to end this. And…" She took a breath and voiced the fear that she had deep inside. "I think this is our last chance to."

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