Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the character that belong to the story. Let us all repeat, "Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro."

Chapter 9:
Decisions

Akiko continued to pluck the three strings of her shamisen with great precision as she sat on the engawa at the back of the house. The melody she was playing was already familiar to Kenshin, who sat at the opposite end of the narrow veranda, gently fanning air at sleeping infant that lay next to him.

She stopped abruptly and gazed at him. Her brown eyes sadden as they began to water. "When are you leaving?" she asked gloomily.

There was a moment of silence as the blazing afternoon continued to drag on. The buzzing sound of insects filled the hot summer air momentarily before he spoke. "Within the next few days," he answered not looking up.

The young woman picked at one of the cords on her instrument. The crisp sound of the single note echoed in the walled off garden as the two remained silent. Again, she struck the shamisen with her pick. "Please don't go..." she murmured as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Kenshin looked up at the young lady. Her head hung low as she brought her slender hands up to her face. Soon, he was able to hear her tiny sobs as she began to cry. "What if you are killed... like Kuniko-san has said before," she finally raised her head. "I don't want you to die Kenshin. I don't want to be left alone again..."

The red haired young man forced a smile as he continued to fan his daughter. "Rest assure, this one will not be killed so easily and promises to return." Akiko looked out at the walled off yard, her eyes still full of sorrow and discontent. She remained silent as the two continued to sit quietly. Her features began to twist into an ever sadder look. A guilty feeling began to grow in the young hitokiri's stomach as he watched the young lady continue to stare aimlessly into space. It was just as painful for him to leave her as it was for her to wait for him.

"The next time this one returns," Kenshin began slowly as he looked down at his daughter, "he promises to never leave again." Akiko turned suddenly, her eyes locked onto young man. His head hung low as he continued to fan the infant. "Hopefully, the worst is over and they will not require my services any longer..." he trailed off.

--

Kenshin wiped the blood from his sword before placing it back into its sheath again. Without any hesitation, the young man quickly left the small alley and made his way to closest busy avenue he could find. Judging by the small commotion that the two swordsmen had made, it wouldn't take long for someone to find the dead body lying in the alley.

The young man sighed as continued on his way down the street. He didn't want to be there. He was beginning to loath it. He wanted so desperately to get away. To go back. Back to Akiko's small, peaceful home and as far away from this bloody city as he could. He was beginning to regret ever returning to Kyoto. But at the same time, he felt he had an obligation to at least say good bye to Kogoro Katsura in person and wish him well during these times of unrest.

However, when he returned to Kyoto he discovered that Katsura had gone missing. No one had seen him or even knew about his whereabouts. Some of the revolutionists were even beginning to suspect that Katsura had become a coward and run away from the battle. Of course, Kenshin knew that this couldn't be true. Not of a man who was passionate about bringing down a two hundred year old government in order to bring new order and hope to the people of Japan. Katsura was still around somewhere and would make his grand appearance soon.

"Himura-kun," a voice softly reached the young man's ears.

The young hitokiri turned to the source of the voice. His eyes quickly fell onto a man sitting on a small bench, eating dumplings on a street side shop. Their eyes meet as the man looked up. A look of surprise crossed the young man's face. "Katsura-san!"

Katsura got up from his place and paid for his meal. Without uttering another word, he gestured for the young man to follow him. The two made their way into a small alley between two homes. Now was his chance, he could finally tell Katsura that he wanted to leave and never return. His mind was made up. There was no one who could talk him otherwise.

"Where is it that your Akiko lives?"

The young man froze in his place. Katsura wasn't one who pried into other's lives. The only times he did go out of his way to look into other's affairs was when he suspected them of selling information to his enemies.

The older man sighed. "There are rumors that the Hitokiri Battousai has someone waiting for him in either Osaka or a small village near Nara," he spoke without hesitation. "I don't know where these rumors originated from. What I do know is that it hasn't been said who it is that you visit or where she lives. My best guess is that no one knows for sure... yet."

Kenshin felt as if his heart was going to leap out of his throat. Someone had found out that Akiko was waiting for him. He had to do something fast. The young man was about to leave running when he felt a hand settle on his shoulder.

The older man reached down and took his hand. Placing a small bundle in to his hand he said, "Take this and never come back. I suggest that you leave where ever it is that Akiko-chan lives and find yourselves a new home." The young man nodded. "Take care of yourself, Kenshin."

"Thank you," Kenshin said placing the small bundle of money into his sleeve. "Good-bye, Katsura-san. And good luck." Without uttering another word, the young man turned and raced out of the small alley, quickly disappearing from sight.

--

Kenshin raced down the back alleyways of the merchant distract in the late afternoon. His heart pounded in his chest as the thought of someone having found out that Akiko awaited him in Nara continued to sink into his mind. He mentally cursed himself for having been so careless as to actually have had someone follow him when on his trips to visit the young woman. He had to make it in time or else... He forced these last few thoughts aside. It didn't matter now. All that mattered was that he make it to Nara before anyone else. Time was against him, he had to make it back to Nara tonight. A sharp pain tore through his heart at the thought of what might happen if he weren't to arrive in time. At least the fact that it wasn't known who or where the one that he visited lived gave him more hope.

The young assassin gasped for air as he reached the outskirts of Kyoto. A small pain was beginning to grow at his side from the non-stop running. There was no way he could possibly run all the way to Nara and make it on time to save Akiko. Determined, he continued to trot along the familiar road that led southward as the pain in his side increased. A nauseous feeling began to grow within him at the idea that he wasn't going to make it. Again, he forced the thought out of his mind.

Kenshin slowed his pace to almost a walk. His breath came heavily as he looked around helplessly. His violet blue eyes quickly fell onto a small farmhouse only a few meters away. For a moment he watches as field workers loaded sacks of rice onto a cart hitched to a horse in the early evening hours. Taking in a deep breath, he darted one last time in their direction. The workers greeted the young man with a look of surprise as he made his way past them. Unsheathing one of his swords, the young hitokiri cut the reigns that attached the horse to the cart. In a fluent movement, he mounted the horse, striking its back with the flat of the sword. He shrugged off the profanities being yelled at him by the farmers as he rode off. Now he had a chance to make it to Nara before the sun rose again.

--

The mid-autumn night air was chilled. The sound of pounding hooves on the old wood bridge rang loudly as Kenshin finally rode into Nara. A few more blocks and he would finally be at Akiko's house. A sense of overwhelming relief filled the young man as the small, worn down farmhouse finally came into view. Swinging his leg over the horse, he jumped as he finally reached his destination. Giving his surroundings a quick glance, he raced to the front door.

"Akiko-san!" he pounded on the wooden door. A few dogs began to bark in the run down neighborhood. He waited for what seemed to be an eternity before knocking on the door again. Nothing. Finally growing impatient, the young man eagerly made his way to the side of the house. Reaching up to the top of the wall, he heaved himself into the small garden on the other side.

"Akiko-san..." he knocked on the shôji of her room, "Akiko-san, you have to get up now!" He waited for a response, but heard nothing. He felt a wave of anguish wash over him as continued to wait for a response. Without a second thought he opened the shôji. The faint moonlight washed the floor with an eerie glow as he scanned the room taken aback. Akiko's futon was still folded up in the corner near the door to the front room. He stood on the board walkway for a moment, thinking. "Nitta-san..." he thought out loud, "she could be with Nitta-san."

As he turned to leave, a tiny glow on the other side of the shôji leading to the main room of the house caught his attention. It was so faint that he was barely able to make it out through the paper-like door. "Could Akiko-san have left the fire going?" he questioned himself. The young man turned to leave, but there was something that drew him to the fire on the other side of the door. Somehow, he felt that he had to go into the next room before he left. Slowly, he crossed the room and opened the light framed door.

His eyes grew wide at the sight before him. In the low light produced by the dieing fire in the pit and the faint moonlight that entered from behind him, the young man made out the silhouette of a body hanging over the fire pit. His eyes began to fill with tears as he quickly recognized the body to be Akiko. The bottom of her purple kimono was blackened by the smoke produced by the dieing fire. Her right hand was held up to her neck by her fingers, which were caught between the thick rope and her neck. The braid that she normally sported and bow of her obi were half undone, a clear sign that she had struggled to the bitter end. Her eyes were slightly opened, staring aimlessly at nothing and void of life. Her face drained of color.

Kenshin averted his eyes to the floor as the sudden sensation of wanting to vomit consumed

him. He clasped his hands over his mouth as he took a step back into Akiko's room. The tears in his eyes began to stream down his face uncontrollably as he felt his legs grow weak. Taking in deep breaths to calm himself down, he finally managed to reenter the room. He quickly cut the young woman's body down from the ceiling. Her body was already cold and rigid. She had been dead for a number of hours now.

"Sakura..." he gasped as he realized that the toddler was no where to be seen. Carefully laying the lifeless body on the floor, he began a desperate search for the baby girl. His heart pounded louder in his chest at every passing minute of his search. "Sakura-chan!" he called as he raced outside and took a look under the house, but was confronted by nothing. Slowly, the realization that his daughter was missing finally began to sink in.

Kenshin returned to Akiko. He would spend the rest of the night holding the young woman's lifeless body in his arms as he sat leaning against the wall. It was all hopeless now.

--

"We can't just sit here and let them have their ways," Goranu looked up at Katsura.

"For the time being, we can't do anything. We are greatly outnumbered," Katsura brought up his cup of tea. "Rather then rushing into a battle blindly, we must think of a way to counter their attacks."

Goranu frowned as he watched his leader peacefully sip his tea. Everything was beginning to fall apart. All groups that supported the Shogun had become merciless these last few days. They were desperate and everyone knew it. Their restlessness had made every river in Kyoto run red with blood everyday.

"The shipment of armaments will not arrive 'til a few days time," spoke a man with a heavy accent. Goranu looked up at the foreigner. His Japanese was still hard to understand but nonetheless his speech was clearer then any other foreigner he had yet to meet. Thomas B. Glover, an English arms dealer from Nagasaki, sat quietly for a moment. His sea blue eyes locked themselves onto Katsura, waiting for a response. "However," he continued, "even if they do arrive at Nagasaki within the next few days, it will take another week or so to transport all the guns and ammunition to Kyoto."

"I see..." Katsura finally responded looking down at his green tea.

"What of the Shinsengumi?" Okubo questioned as he set down his pipe.

The ten men in the room remained silent. For the last month the Shinsengumi had followed through every lead they had gathered about the whereabouts of all who opposed to the Shogunate, leading to some of the bloodiest confrontations that the revolution had yet seen. The battles on both sides of the war had grown to become so desperate that even Hitokiri Kawakami's mid-day slaying of the great idealist Sakuma Shôzan had sent a wave of shock to everyone involved.

The shôji door slid open. Without greeting the people assembled in the room, Kenshin solemnly made his way to an empty cushion next to Katsura. All eyes stared at the young man as he took his place to Katsura's left. They watched in astonishment as the young hitokiri took the two swords from his side and slowly placed them on the floor at his side, never once looking up nor speaking from the moment he entered.

"Himura-san..." Katsura began to question but was interrupted.

"This one is here to stay until the battles are over," the young man's stern, but low voice came. The men continued to stare at the young hitokiri for a while. He had been missing for nearly a month now. All were sure that he would never return, that they had lost their best bodyguard and assassin. Now, they all eyed the young man guessingly.

Sensing the young man's disposition of wanting to be left alone, Katsura continued the debate at hand. He would later have a word with the young hitokiri.

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A/N: Well, its taken me a long enough time to update this. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about this fic and My computer had broken down and I was having a ton of catching up to do at school that I just simply forgot about even writing the fanfic. Some author I am, ne?

Anywho, I'm working on this and hopefully will be updating this fic on a more periodic basis. Oh yes, thanks to Heddy for correcting my historical inaccuracy in the previous chapter, it has now been fixed. So enjoy