Disclaimer: I don't own the plot or characters of Rurouni Kenshin
A/N: This chapter is a bit long, but at least Battousai finally shows up in it.
Thanks so much to Nekotsuki and Lolopopoki for all your reviews and support!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Tsubame gave a little sigh of longing.
Yahiko heard it and glanced at her curiously. Sano just admitted that he needed backup. Usually that would have given Yahiko just the chance he needed to ride the rooster head about how inept he was at breaking and entering. A bull in a china shop had more finesse than Sano, who hated dealing with any technology that didn't have to do with fast cars or entertainment systems.
Tsubame was staring ahead of the car at the sidewalk, while Sano was glaring at the mansion on top of the hill, so Yahiko noticed the man with the dog coming down the walk before he did.
It was an old guy with a brimmed tweed cap, dark pants, and a cable-knit sweater. The dog was a jack Russell terrier prancing along at the end of a leash.
Sano began muttering to himself about having to call Sagara when the old guy came up, staring curiously at them through the car windows. He turned to tell Sano they should probably get going when he noticed Tsubame staring longingly at the dog.
The old guy stopped, leaned over suddenly and tapped his knuckles on the front passenger side window.
Sano scowled, but rolled the window down automatically by pressing a button.
"Yeah?"
"You reporters?" the old guy asked.
Yahiko noticed that he had a tan, wrinkled face with sharp blue eyes, eyes that scoured the inside of the car at a glance and focused back on Sano.
"Why would you think we're reporters? Is there something going on around here?" Yahiko asked quickly. Maybe the cops were already onto the guy in the jeep.
"No," Sano answered the old man's question with a quelling look at Yahiko. "We're not reporters, why do you ask?"
The man stared at them a second, then seemed to come to a conclusion. "No reason, it's just that we had camera crews around here a while back wanting to interview Miss Murphy," he said, nodding up at the mansion.
"That so?" Sano returned lazily. "Why would they do that?"
"You mean a girl lives up there?" Yahiko burst in. Sano was such an idiot. If he insulted the old guy by acting like a jerk, then the old guy would walk away and they wouldn't get any information.
"Miss Murphy the younger, yes." Sharp blue eyes focused on Yahiko. "Miss Murphy the elder, she died a while back. She was from old money, you see. Took in her grandniece and grandnephew when their parents passed on. It was no life for two young kids, shut up in that mansion. That Miss Murphy the elder was old school. 'Ladies and gentlemen do not go out without chaperones' and nonsense like that. Shame too, since the girl was such a looker. No wonder she wants so bad to get herself on TV nowadays."
"On TV?" Sano broke in, his voice betraying a bit more interest.
The man switched his gaze to the older vampire. "Yep. Our Miss Murphy is the frontrunner for the Miss Northern California contest. Can't say as I approve of young women gallivanting about in their bathing suits for a contest, or at least not when my wife's around, but I don't blame her for wanting to get out of that mansion from time to time. Since her great aunt died, that brother of hers keeps a pretty firm leash on her."
At the word 'leash' the terrier sitting patiently by the old man's side let out a bark.
His master grinned down at him. "Yeah, you know that word, don't you?" he asked the dog, who thumped his tail in quick succession against the sidewalk. The old man pulled back from the car. "Well, I'd best get on with my walk. And you with your drive. Several folks around here pay for a security patrol, and it's due by here any minute. So even if you aren't reporters, I'd skedaddle if I were you."
Tipping the brim of his hat at Tsubame in the back seat, he stepped back and resumed walking, the little dog jumping up and falling in at his side.
Yahiko noticed Tsubame's eyes following the pair down the sidewalk with an expression he recognized very well.
"We've got to eat." Yahiko blurted out.
"Later." said Sano, turning the ignition key.
"No, now." Yahiko grabbed Sano's shoulder to get his attention and glared speakingly into his eyes when he turned in irritation.
"There are ducks in the golf course ponds." Tsubame suggested.
After a brief argument, Sano pulled back onto the lane, found a pullout by the golf course, and parked. Tsubame was out of the car in a flash, and over the hedge bedecked wall before he even turned the ignition off.
Yahiko and Sano stared at each other across the back of the driver's seat.
"You feel like duck tonight?" he asked.
"Naw."
"Me either."
Sighing, they settled back to wait.
OOO
Sanosuke dropped the two younger vampires off at the motel, but stayed in the car to make a phone call.
"Yes?" came Sagara's voice as the call connected.
"It's me. We found him."
There was a sigh. "And?"
Sano leaned back against his seat. "And it's not going to be easy. He lives in a rich neighborhood with security patrols. There's a sister, and she's a bit of a local celebrity. Beauty pageants, I think. We can't just beat him up and leave him on the steps of the police station gift-wrapped. If we kill him, well, the family's got money to cover up what he did, and getting through whatever security system they might have…you know how I am with surveillance cameras."
Sano practically heard Sagara wince as he answered. "I remember." There was a silence, then Sagara continued slowly. "I think it's time to call in a professional."
"Who?" Sano asked, mentally going down the list of Sekihoutai vampires who had experience with modern day breaking and entering.
"An outsider. Battousai."
Sano just about dropped the phone. "Battousai? But he's Meiji."
"He was Meiji when he was alive," Sagara reminded Sano calmly, "but he's been an independent contractor for over a hundred years now."
"He used to take orders from Katsura. Word is, they're still friendly, so why didn't Katsura ask for Battousai to take care of the human in the first place?"
"Good question. It would have been the logical thing to do. Katsura's messenger made the favor sound like a test."
Sano narrowed his eyes. "A test as in seeing how strong our warriors are so he'd know if we could withstand an attack?"
"Perhaps. Izuka made it clear he didn't want any further communication between our two sides until the deed was done, but he didn't say anything about outside assistance."
Sano felt a slow grin tug at his lips. "And since everybody knows that once Battousai takes a job he won't double-cross whoever hired him…"
"If Katsura wants to lure my strongest up North where he can pick them off one at a time, he'll have Battousai to contend with."
Sano's grin broadened, then faded. "But what about you?"
"I'll be fine, Sanosuke." Humor and certainty came through in his voice. "We're on alert, and Keisuke has come up with several contingency plans. Wait there for Battousai to join you. I hear he's in New York. If he takes the job, he'll be there in two nights."
"Gotcha. Take care, Captain."
"And you, Sanosuke."
OOO
Another night came and went. Sano told them that 'backup' was coming and they should just settle down to wait. Despite Yahiko's cajoling, he wouldn't say more than that.
Without watch duty, Tsubame had nothing to do but sit around the motel and listen to Sano and Yahiko squabble.
At first it disturbed her, the loud voices and stinging insults. Sanosuke loved to get Yahiko all riled up, and Yahiko's pride wouldn't allow him to let things go without a rejoinder. It came as a shock to realize in the middle of one of their fights, that they were competing to see who could come up with the worst insult, and that they were actually enjoying the competition.
She didn't want to see the gleam of appreciation in Sano's eyes when Yahiko came up with a particularly cruel remark about Sano's hair. She didn't want to realize that Yahiko quarreled so naturally with Sano because he was confidant of the older vampire's friendship, for they were friends, for all their arguing. It made it that much harder to hate Sano.
She'd given up hating Yahiko the minute she started believing his wild tale about how you could drink from humans and not kill or turn them. How could she hate him when all he did was look out for her, cradle her unconsciously in his arms during the daytime, and defend her against Sano's snide remarks?
The remarks didn't bother her, much. She was feral. An animal. A monster. Everything Sano said was true, and just because she refused to drink human blood didn't mean that she didn't want to. She could sense the humans in the rooms next to theirs, feel them going out to their cars and coming back at night. It was only sheer willpower that kept her in the car when that man and his dog were talking to Sanosuke and Yahiko. The worst part was, she didn't know if she'd opened the car door, which one she would have gone for, the human or the pet.
She was sitting at the small round table by the window, more from habit than anything else, when the knock came at the door.
Sano came off the bed and opened it immediately. There in the doorway stood a man she'd never seen before. He was quiet and unassuming looking, despite his red hair, pulled back in a loose ponytail. It was a beautiful shade of red, darker than a fox's coat, but not black-red, not like vampiric blood.
His eyes took in the room in a second. They were an odd shade of blue, almost violet, startling against his pale skin - his very pale skin, which was symptomatic of a vampire. With a start, Tsubame realized that she couldn't sense him as she could Sano or Yahiko. He smelled of vampire, but that tingling in the pit of her stomach that usually told her another vampire was present, wasn't there. He was masking it somehow.
She heard Sano greeting him, and glanced over to see what Yahiko would say. Yahiko was staring at the newcomer with shining eyes, and a hopeful smile. He looked very young, and star struck. It almost made her smile in reaction.
"Battousai," sighed Yahiko, as if all was well now that he'd come.
"Yahiko." The stranger inclined his head formally and stared back, reserved, but with a trace of kindness.
"Come in." Sano stepped back and pulled the door open wider.
"Thank you," the vampire, no, the 'Battousai', said and crossed the threshold. Battousai was a title, judging by the way Yahiko said it. Tsubame stayed seated and waited for them to remember her.
In the wilds, she could sit so still that birds flying home for the night would perch on her head. Birds were tiny, without much blood, so she'd let them sit and fly away in safety. Battousai was not a clueless bird. His gaze locked on hers the minute he crossed into the room. Tsubame looked away.
"How have you been? Where have you been? Why didn't you come back?" Questions burst forth from Yahiko like water from the floodgates of a dam, stopping only when Sano smacked the back of his head.
"Give it a break, Yahiko. Battousai's here to help."
"You're our backup?"
"That I am." said the red-haired vampire. His voice was light but strong. "And who is this?" he asked. Tsubame didn't need to look up to know that he was talking about her.
"Oh," Yahiko lunged across the bed and landed with a thump in front of her chair. Grabbing her hand, he hauled her out of it and drew her forward. "This is Tsubame," he said, as much pride in his voice as if he were showing off a favorite pet or a science fair project that had just won first prize.
Tsubame kept her gaze firmly on the ground. She could sense the solidness of the Battousai, could smell his scent, but she still couldn't detect his vampire's aura. There was one thing all of her instincts were screaming at her that she couldn't ignore. This vampire was powerful, and dangerous. She could tell by the way he stood, his feet apart, knees slightly bent, seemingly relaxed but ready to strike in any direction like a coiled spring. It was the way of wildcats, which could go from a relaxed lounge to a lightning tackle of their prey in seconds.
She wished Yahiko had left her in the chair.
"I am pleased to meet you, Tsubame." came the soft voice.
She nodded and stepped back, pulling her hand out of Yahiko's.
Stealing a quick look at him from under her bangs, she saw disappointment cross Yahiko's face. He'd wanted them to like each other.
It was too much.
It was hard enough getting used to two other people in her living space. Now she had to contend with three. Even though she'd come to trust Yahiko to an extent, she still found herself staying between him and the door most of the time. She felt better knowing that an escape route was open to her. With this vampire, she knew she'd have to compete for the honor of being the one closest to the exit.
"So, you want to go take a look at the house?" asked Sanosuke, breaking the awkward silence.
"Yes." The soft voice replied.
They all piled into Sano's car with Sano at the wheel, Battousai riding shotgun, and Yahiko and Tsubame in back.
Surreptitiously, she closed her eyes and inhaled Battousai's scent, and the ones on his clothes. There was airline recycled air smell, the lingering scent of unfamiliar humans who'd brushed by him, not knowing the danger in their midst, and rental car air freshener smell.
Opening her eyes, she saw him glance back at her, and thought she saw a flash of humor in his eyes before he turned back around to assure Sano that he knew all about the situation and the need to make it clear the human was the one killing the girls and draining their blood.
Driving back to the mansion seemed to take a shorter time than it had before, now that they knew where they were going. As they pulled up to the drive, Sano slowed down past the church.
In the driveway, a small green Chevy was parked, blocking access. Two Hispanic women in pink polyester uniforms, as nondescript as institutional nurse uniforms from decades ago, walked down from the gate and got into the car, which reversed in order to get back onto the lane.
"Keep driving." Battousai's voice directed Sano.
"Looks like the hired help is off for the evening." Yahiko observed.
"Maybe for the weekend. It is Friday." Sano reminded him.
The word triggered something in Tsubame's mind, something from the TV news. She tugged on Yahiko's sleeve.
Surprised, he turned to look at her.
"Monday is when the pageant starts."
"Huh?"
"The sister. She's going to be in the pageant, remember? It starts Monday."
"So maybe it's only him up there." Sano commented, not in the least concerned that he'd been eavesdropping. "That'd be a plus. I hate hypnotizing witnesses to forget."
"If it's necessary. I will do it." Battousai promised.
They drove to the end of the street, which dead-ended into a 'T' shaped intersection at the far end of the golf course.
"So, do you want me to swing around and come back?" Sano asked.
Battousai shook his head, his red bangs rustling slightly as he did so. "No. Turn right. We'll park and cross the golf course."
"That way no one will remember our car being parked across from the mansion. Geez Sano, I thought you were smart." Yahiko taunted.
"Shut up, brat." Sano barked back amiably.
"No more quarrelling." Battousai's voice was quiet, but the note of command was unmistakable.
Yahiko subsided at once, and even Sano merely smirked and shut his mouth.
They drove in silence, parking the car under an oak that hung over the wall, creating a pocket of shadows, perfect for concealing a car.
"So, what now?" Sano asked, conceding authority to the red headed vampire with an ease that surprised Tsubame.
"We go to the house and see what's to be done." Battousai answered easily.
"You're not one for detailed plans, are you?" Sano asked.
"Situations change. Only goals remain the same." A glance passed between them, and Sano ducked his head in agreement.
As they got out of the car, he paused. "What about her?" he jerked his head toward the back seat, where Tsubame had opened her car door, not waiting for Yahiko to do it for her. She froze. What about her? She thought they'd wanted her help.
Battousai leaned into the car, searching her with his eyes. "She's the only one who can identify him by smell, correct?"
"Yeah," came Sano's reluctant agreement.
"You bet!" was Yahiko's cheerful response.
"Then she comes with us."
Tsubame felt as though she'd been weighed and found acceptable. It was ridiculous, really, the glow of satisfaction she felt at the thought. The Battousai was dangerous; she could never let her guard down around him, so why did his approval seem to matter? If she were honest, she'd have to admit that it was because Yahiko valued the man's opinion, and she'd started to value Yahiko.
Wrenching her mind away from that unwelcome thought, she walked around the back of the car, gathered herself, and leapt over the golf course wall, landing in a crouch on the smooth, thick grass on the other side.
Instinctively, she touched the knife belted by her leg under her skirt. As she glanced over and watched Sano land last, she saw Battousai touch the hilt of a sword sticking out of his belt on his left side. He must have stashed it in Sano's car before entering the motel. That thought in itself was worrisome. Had he thought so little of her as a threat that he'd left his weapon outside when he met her? Or was it simply that a sword is difficult to conceal and he'd wanted to hide it?
Then they were running across the golf course and she had no time to think, only to feel the wind in her hair and her legs moving faster than a human's, touching down on the grass only to give impetus to a run that was more flight than pounding of earth.
Soon they were leaping the far wall of the golf course and were on the mansion grounds. Tsubame didn't have to be told to keep to the shadows. Hunting is what she did best. She felt where the other vampires were, all except Battousai, so she kept him in sight. They flitted from tree to tree until Battousai held up his hand.
They sank back behind their respective trees and waited while he became a shadow and slid up to the house. There was a spark, and a surveillance camera winked out and died in its mount on the corner. If she hadn't been a vampire, Tsubame wouldn't have seen the Battousai shadow slink down by the French doors leading out to a flagstone patio area. Light spilling from windows on the upper storey helped.
He leaned over and up above to the lintel, and seemed to be fiddling with something. Then he stopped and motioned them forward. They came at a run, stopping at the French doors. His eyes glittered amber in the starlight as he glanced at each of them. Then he cracked the door open, with the faint hiss of a climate-controlled house, and Tsubame fell to her knees.
Blood smell, warm, inviting, liquid, and so much of it!
So much all concentrated in one place, and it was all upstairs with the scent of humans. Humans and blood, blood and humans, and all her longing hunger was overwhelming her.
"Tsubame?" Yahiko's concerned whisper penetrated the haze of need that had her clutching her stomach, hunched over in the pain of wanting and not having.
She cracked open eyelids she didn't even remember shutting, and saw him leaning over her, worry radiating from him in an almost palpable wave.
"There's so much blood," she whispered back to him. "I can't…I can't stand it."
"She's right." Battousai's voice was cold, expressionless. "I smell it too."
He knelt suddenly by her side, left hand on his hilt, angling the sword back and behind him so it wouldn't scrape on the flagstones. "I sense two people inside. I need to know which one is the man you saw in the jeep. Can you tell me?"
Tsubame bit her lip. She was leaning against the building, legs bent and knees in front of her face, clutching her stomach. Shuddering, she closed her eyes again and flared her nostrils, forcing herself past the scent of blood to other scents. They were so weak compared to the rich, intoxicating smell, but they were there.
"Two humans," she whispered softly. "One near the blood. Not him. The other downstairs. A basement? That one is him."
She opened her eyes. "I can't go in there."
Battousai rose to his feet. "You don't have to. Yahiko, stay with Tsubame and keep watch. Sano?"
"I'm going with you." Sano said challengingly. "Sagara gave this job to me. I'm going to see it through. Besides," a grin colored his voice. "You never know, you could end up using my help."
Glancing up, Tsubame saw Battousai nod politely and step through the open French doors. Sano followed seconds later, his face set and more serious than she'd ever seen it. That left Yahiko.
He hadn't objected to being left behind, as she'd expected. Instead, he sat cross-legged, the edge of his sheathed wakizashi scraping lightly against the flagstones as he sat. He wore it strapped to his back, the way he had when he'd been hunting her. He watched her quietly, distressed.
She didn't want him to be distressed over her. She wanted…She wanted blood. Gripping her middle tightly, she felt another wave of longing hurtle through her stomach, and started rocking back and forth in reaction.
Warmth, and motion against her back began to register through the pain of hunger. Yahiko was rubbing her back. Surprise and gratitude shot through her, but were soon lost in the overwhelming need.
She didn't know how long she sat there, shaking and wanting before the cry came. It was Sano's voice, in agony, and it barely penetrated up from the lower floor, but her vampire ears picked it up, and so did Yahiko's.
Glancing up, she saw his worry turn to resolve as he stared through the open doors. He glanced over and saw her.
"I have to go."
"I know." Sanosuke was his friend. Yahiko was torn between staying to comfort her and making sure that his friend was all right. "Go," she said. "I'll be fine."
"You're sure?"
She nodded. "Go," she said again, and he jumped to his feet and began running soundlessly into the house.
She lasted a minute, maybe two before the call of the blood became too strong to ignore. Reaching out her hand, she grasped the doorframe and hauled herself to her feet, then staggered across the threshold and into the house where the scent of blood led her across a deep oriental carpet, past sofas and tables with fresh cut flowers, to the foot of a set of smooth mahogany stairs.
Licking her lips, she took the first step closer to her goal.
