A/N: (eyes bugging) four months before an update! God,you must all think I'm dead. But I'm not; just a bit trapped by some other fancies, so as to neglect RK for a while...I hope everyone can forgive me and continue to review. Special gomen to koe-san, B-chan-san, liemtenshi-san and Cee Cee- san, coz I skulked off with the story!
CH13 The trap of the wolf
He knew it; the prey was hopelessly trapped.
He was the predator; and who was about to fall prey to his night hunt was about to be seen.
The Shinsengumi First Troop stole glances at their Gumi-chou as they crept towards their objective. Was that a murderous smirk present on their captain's face? Or were it but a trick of the wavering lantern light?
They would soon know.
"No!" Takehashi's voice had long since lowered to a whisper. "The Shinsengumi is out there."
Kenshin agreed. "The person who has arranged this must be really smart." He said absently, violet orbs darting from side to side.
Takehashi knitted his brows tightly. "I think I know whohe is." In his knowledge, there were only two people in the Shinsengumi who could arrange such a flawless envelopment.
Silent as the fall of Autumn leaves. Deadly as the strike of an angered beast.
Midnight black eyes met rich-violet ones, and realization dawnedbetween them. It could have been Saitou, of course; but as instincts and knowledge informed them, such anenvelopment was not his style. It was actually hard to put it in words; instincts couldn't be explained – but to a swordsman, instinct was everything. It wasn't Saitou – the two had no doubt about that. Well then, it must be -
Okita Souji.
The First Troop captain.
Okita did seem gentler and a lot more cheerful than Saitou, that wastrue; but they knew full well how deceptive appearances could be. Okita could just as well beam at a person while cutting him asunder.
And there was one other thing too...
"Okita isn't supposed to see me ...us...at this stage! If he ever sees us now, we'll alter history again." Kenshin said with a start, receiving one wide- eyed look of understanding and two other of bafflement.
Takehashi could make no sense out of the former hitokiri's remark, but that reminded him too – he himself wasn't supposed to be seen by the keen captain. There had already been so much rumours about information leakage in the Shinsengumi; if Okita ever saw him...well... lurking in a dark alley past midnight, what should he think? That he was the cause of the leakage, of course.
It didn't really change the fact that he was indeed the cause of the leakage; but then, that was supposed to be a secret between him and Katsura, was that not so?
Perhaps it was their luck that the alley was immensely long; as the dark shadows continued their stubborn resistance against the flickering lantern lights, the trapped warriors desperately sought for a perfect way to escape.
Crossing the rooftop was possible, but Takehashi understood that if anyone was to cross the roof, it would not be him.Providedthat Okita was not blind, he would be clearly identified at such a height. Moreover, he had the feeling that Okita had somehow sensed his presence, so basically any attempt to escape – or even standingimmobile in his current position- would immediately blow his cover.
It was mission impossible to get out of this without blowing any of their covers.
"Well." Takehashi grimaced mentally as an idea drifted across his mind. Someone had to sacrifice, that was all; he could not but agree that his plan in mind would be able to save all of them - maybe it was even possible to bring about a counter-attack.
But first, someone had to sacrifice.
"Battousai-san, I would like to ask youa favour."
"And that would be?" Battousai inquired quietly.
"Harm me enough so that I'll be on the verge of dying." The spy smiled grimly, handing Battousai a roll of something.
It only took a flick of the wrist to unroll it, and a glimpse to understand what they had meant.
They were kunais. And some poisoned ones at that.
Lavender eyes narrowed and dithered.
Patience.
It might be everyone's image that a wolf is brutal, bloodthirsty; oh yes, they are true, absolutely true. But there is one other thing about wolves...
They are patient as theywait upon the best moment to pounce ontheir prey.
Okita watched as his men moved forward with simultaneous ease. The envelopment circle was getting tighter and tighter; the prey...or preys... would be running into the net anytime soon.
Yet, a feeling of unease had the captain frowning.
It was whenhe smelt it - The sense of human blood, mingled with the wavering ki of...
...Taku...
What was Taku-san doing here? Charcoal eyes widened involuntarily before narrowing. Signaling a silent hand, Okita ordered his men to charge forward – he himself concentrating on the sudden appearance of silhouettes merging readily with the rooftop. The dull moon didn't help to identify the shadows' features – ignoring the startled cries from his men (which were completely oblivious of the threestrangers upon the roof) upon discovering the badly injured "Taku", he squinted slightly in the darkness.
Sight had failed him, but his samurai sense did not; Okita could clearly feel the three unfamiliar ki emitted from above. One, the clearest one to read, was an array of hostility, hurriedness and fear – he, Okita analyzed, was not much of an opponent, at least for him. It was the other two ki that had managed to excite him.
They were vague, faint auras; ones that many samurai would mistake for weakness. Okita knew better -a truly formidable samurai would never be so foolhardy as to let the opponent read his ki. He would mask it masterly, releasing it only on the verge of battle – thus taking the enemy by complete surprise.
The ki intrigued him – it appeared that he had underestimated his so-called preys.
Obviouslyknowing of his arrival, the shadows slid down the other side of the roof. Okita muttered a curse – he knew full well that the other side was stationed with his troop –but as he haderred in assessinghis enemy, this was going to lose him more men than he had initially bargained for. He had not thought before that the prey was capable of crossing roofs – just to play safe, he had placed a few troops on the other side. They weren't going to hold. was his last thought as he made up his mind.
He sprang up the roof in pursuit.
"Taku-san! Can you hear me?" Takehashi heard a deep voice in his stupor, followed by the continuous noise of footfalls. His dizzied sense judged that it must be somewhere to his right...pain had long since dulled his sight, his sixth sense, anything...
Idiot...Battousai was one hell of a baka. He didn't even hurt me enough...
Takehashi cursed the manslayer distractedly. He nearly had to force the distraught hitokiri to throw those stupid kunais at him; and, as he noticed, Battousai was terrified at the thought of hurting somebody.
Damn it, wasn't he supposed to be the notorious manslayer who had killed enough to bedetachedin the faceof blood and death?
He had spent nearly half a century talking sense into him, telling him that it would be the best tactic...but Battousai had promptly rejected the proposal. Heargued thatit would be better if they just barge their way out.
And this, Takehashi thought sarcastically, was why he'd initially thought the boy naive.
Takehashi had tried a more practical way, emphasizing on duty instead of the emotinoal aspect.
" I don't know about the two of you, butthis personhere(he tilted his head to the fourth presence in their midst)definitely can't survive a one-on-twenty battle. He isa spy, not a fighter. In addition, he has something secret to deliver to Katsura-san. I hope you understand that duty should come above everything, and that reckless emotions should be put aside at this stage."
And with that, Battousai had finally complied.
In his glazed sight Takehashi saw Okita leaping onto the roof, precise and deadly as an eagle; he knew without thinking that Okita was giving chase to the two redheads. Too late...he mused woozily. They'll be long gone before you can...
"Kunais!" Came the expected exclamation. "Taku-san...he's harmed by a ninja!" Takehashi felt himself being surrounded, while all around him, "Inform Okita gumi-chou" "Call the medic" and various other commands seeped through the night air into his ears.
Here comes another bunch of baka...one who uses kunai doesn't necessarily have to be a ninja. Takehashi laughed out loud...internally.
That was all he knew before sinking into the void of unconsciousness.
A/N: I know, this chap doesn't really make sense. Please bear with me, I'm sorta stuck; and I promise I'll update more regularly!
Koe-760-san: I'm sorry, really! I sort of ran into some other interest and forgot about this fic...but anyway, I hope you're well. How's your horsie pic? If you have finished it, plz send it to me, I really want a glimpse...I sorta have a writer's block, so if you find any problem with the story, just let me know, ok? goes off to mess with computer Another thing, I'm now doing a English project on Aliens, and it's freaking me out...guess what, I can't do it at night! LOL. I'm a bit sorry I chose the topic. And later we're going to do a grand play on Romeo and Juliet...of course, nothing higher than PG.
B-chan-san: Hey, my little Misao-san reborn! How are you? I'm definitely sorry I neglected this fic, but I am starting it again...I hope you keep reviewing, that's it! Ey, this chap isn't really a evil cliffhanger, so stop glaring at me like this...I have to admit, the thing about predestined death is cool!
CharlieTheOtakuNymph-san: how dare you forget about this story! (goes off to throw a tantrum) anyway, don't do that again., my story lives on you!
Silverknight-san: you review, I update, and that's that. Is that good?
Aprun-san: "Friends"? You don't mean telling Bin Laden to crash a plane into my house, do you? Anyway, the update's late, but I updated! So don't complain.
Justice Stryfe: Just to let you know, I'm currently hanging on your story. Saitou vs Hiko next chapter! Wow! The thing is, you have to update faster or I'll kill you off!
Liemtenshi-san: Should be a few months since you lost your voice... are you better now? (of course!) You still haven't tripped at the ice rink? I did. Someday ago I was skating real fast in the rink and a kid cut into my path...
Cee Cee-san: you give me a late review, so in anguish I give you a late chapter! How's that? Just joking. (dodges random punches) I'm sorry about school and internal drama and projects they're killing me off. I'll continue with this fic, for sure, as long as I live.
Ms Zeal-san : (freezes as I read your review) I can't really answer your first question as, technically, I did this to aid some future plot. (sweatdrops) haven't thought of it this way. You think deeper than me ashamed laugh As for the second question: it's a "no", but it really depends on Zenei Makimoto: he have no control over the rurouni and his counterpart (just right now he doesn't know where they are), but he can fix Kaoru's, Sano's and Yahiko's memory if the situation calls. Thanks for suggesting! Really love ya. I am trying to sort out the first question... You can try writing a fic of your own! It's fun, really.
Lady E1-san: Oro, what does your name means? And about laughing out loud while reading a fic on this net, I remember secretly reading on a computer lesson – I laughed out loud and everyone were throwing me sort of what-the-hell-is-wrong looks. Weird! You reign supreme in updating? (blinks) anou, what can you do if I don't update? (a katana sticks out from the screen) ARG! I understand, I understand. Please continue to review!
