The characters in the story don't belong to me. Just borrowing them for a little escapade so lay off with the lawyer's letters.

Ermmm, did I say Kenshin and Kaoru are going to meet this chapter? That might be delayed for a while.

Chapter5

Two days later in Hong Kong

Sano lounged in the sofa indolently, yawning. It was time for him to return to Sicily but he could not seem to find the energy to leave. He helped his buddies get rid of their obstacles, been to Japan and witnessed a very interesting succession and now, he was back in Hong Kong. He really should go back but things were just getting hot in asia so how could he leave now and miss the show?

Soujiiro was looking out the window, his thoughts miles away in Japan. Her images filled him. He had never met such a woman before. And that niggling familiarity that nagged at his brain but for the life of him, he could not recall when they had met or if that familiarity was just a figment of his imagination.

Seating behind his desk, Kenshin gazed at the yellowed photograph in his hands. Two young, identical faces peered from behind a red-haired boy. One timid, the other curious but both blessed with youth and innocence. The curious one had slipped her hand into the boy standing in front. Around them stood three other boys in various poses. The smallest and youngest of them, a boy with bangs, stood in front of the red-haired one, sucking his thumb. The spiky-haired boy with the belligerent and cocky stance stood beside him. Another boy, this one with fair hair stood on the other side, his eyes on the two whose hands were connected.

They had travelled far from that little orphanage. All of them. At that thought, his eyes narrowed. All of them……

"Kenshin, Hayashi Kaoru, you've seen her before, right? What was she like?" Soujiiro asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

What she was like? Perhaps it was time to tell them. "Remember the orphanage we came from?"

"The orphanage? Not very well,"Soujiiro answered, curious at the sudden turn of conversation.

"There used to be six of us there. Hayashi Kaoru and her twin sister, Tsubame were one of us."

Sano, who had been listening with half a ear came alert with a start. "She's one of us? Then Tsubame…" Surprised, he thought back to the snatches of conversation he caught between Jineh and Kaoru. He did not feel anything when he heard that Hayashi Kaoru had killed her own sister but now, knowing their relations to him, being able to put a face and character to the previously alien name, Sano was filled with a very odd feeling. Something akin to rage and pain.

Sensing it, Kenshin stood up from behind his desk and walked over to him, putting his hands on his shoulders, "She had her reasons, Sano. Remember what she said to Jineh, she was doing to his son what he did do Tsubame." He recalled. Yes, she did say that meaning Tsubame was……Sano clenched his fists. Realising this, Sano looked upon the scene in the Hayashi's mansion in a different light. It was not just a struggle for succession. It was also revenge.

Soujiiro looked at the two of them with confusion. "But I don't remember them."

"You were still very young then, Soujiiro. But you still felt something, right?" Kenshin asked.

"Yes… then, that man beside her? He gave me the same feeling too."

"That's Enishi," Kenshin answered. He had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, he was glad that they were together once again but on the other hand, he could not help but be a bit put off that he was not the one to find her first, the one beside her, the one giving her support then.

His emotions under control, Sano pondered on an interesting point. "Do you realised something, we all got adopted into the triads?" Soujiiro raised his eyebrows, mentally recounted and found out with a surprise that it was true. Enishi to the American Branda family, Kaoru and Tsubame to Usui who in turn sold them to Jineh of the Shinzuku, Sano to the Sicilian mafia and Kenshin and him to Shishio Makoto, the leader of HongXing, the biggest traid in Hong Kong.

Kenshin sat down beside Sano and folded his hands together, his amber eyes glowing. "Too much of a coincidence, don't you think?"

Soujiiro frowned, "But if there is a conspiracy, why? It doesn't make much sense."

"What have we been doing since we were adopted? Trained in the ways of the triad, helping our adopted fathers gain more territories. Consolidate their hold." Kenshin stated matter-of-factly.

Sano's eyes widened, "Are you saying that we've been used?"

"That can't be. If our adopted fathers do have plans for us, than how did you manage to take over the place in the mafia and how did Kaoru manage to kill Jineh. Surely they would guard against that?" Soujiiro cut in.

"Maybe they understimated us. Whatever it is, I will get to the bottom of the matter." Kenshin ended the discussion. If indeed there was a conspiracy, the puppet master will find his puppets dancing to a different tune.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and their adopted father, Shishio Makoto walked in. An incident with a fire left him with horrendous scars all over his body. Though he did not bother to cover up the ones on his arms, he covered his face with a mask. Seeing that Shishio wanted a talk with his sons, Sano excused himself to the next room.

"Well Kenshin, Soujiiro, the trip to Japan was rewarding, wasn't it?" Soujiiro answered eagerly, "Yes, Hayashi Kaoru's succession was brilliant." Behind the mask, Shishio's lips twisted in a parody of a smile. Indeed, she was brilliant. Far and above what he had expected.

"In asia, only her clan and Usui's remained equal to ours in wealth and power. You've heard of her relations with Usui, I presume." His low voice rasped.

"Yes," Kenshin answered quietly.

"There's only one way to stop them from banding together against us, Kenshin. We must move first. Marry her." The last statement was not a question but a command. "Before Hayashi Kaoru join forces with Usui, we must get her to our side. You know what to do, Kenshin." Having said what he wanted to say, Shishio left.

Sano, who had been listening behind the door came over, "Your father have ambitions. The marriage will be a merger of the two most powerful clans in asia. Usui will do his best to stop it." Curious, he asked another question, "Would you do it? Marry her?" Soujiiro turned quickly to Kenshin, waiting for his answer.

"Yes, but not for father. For myself." Sujiiro's shoulders slumped. With that answer, he knew that Kenshin liked her too.

"Then the next question will be whether she will marry you." Sano asked, sitting on the edge of the table, fiddling with a pencil. Kenshin smiled as he poured himself a glass of wine.

"Yes, she will," Sipping slowly, he added thoughtfully, "If she wants the triads in asia under her control, she will have to marry me."



At that moment in Japan

"Marry Kenshin? Why?" Enishi asked, unable to tell what his feelings were on the matter. Pain? Disbelief?

"Yes, marry Kenshin. Although Shinzuku is equal in strength to Usui's Kobe, in a real fight, victory could go either way. But with Kenshin's HongXing behind me, victory will be mine."

"But if you want help, I can help you."

"No, Enishi. Other than getting his help in this matter, there's another reason. HongXing is a force in asia to be reckoned with. The underworld of China, Macau and Hong Kong are under its control. If I merge Shinzuku with him, asia would be almost totally under our control."Kaoru analysed the situation coolly.

Swayed, but not yet giving up, Enishi asked, "How do you know he will agree?"

"I saw it in his eyes." She smiled confidently.





That's all for this chapter. Kenshin and Kaoru will meet next chapter. Really.