Title: Twisting Time

Authors: Fyyrrose and Eeevee

Rating: R for future chapters (but mainly PG-13 … for now)

Summary: Fate is a strong guiding force, but one misstep can lead to altered events. AT

Disclaimer: We do not own the characters; we are simply toying with their fragile minds for our own sadistic pleasures

Prologue: Awry Misstep

A sharp crack filled the heavy, sulfuric air.

The results were a pain-filled scream and several noises of shock and dismay. As if the battle on the rooftop hadn't been tense enough, this happened.

How could it happen? How could he let it happen?

He didn't even bother to wipe the blood that dripped, stinging, into his shocked eyes. He didn't even notice the pain in his chest and side, where bone ends cracked against each other and poked into tender flesh beneath the skin. The soot and reek of petroleum oil burning and the acidic smell of Shishio's flaming sword weren't enough to distract him anymore. He had one goal in mind: reaching his best friend.

"Kenshin!"

"Ahahaha! So even the great Battousai isn't immune to the pitfalls of the flesh!" The slimy little man cackled madly, waving his foreign weapon around. Back at Kanyruu's mansion, the Gatling gun had been horrible, but at least he had poor aim. Hoji, apparently, was extremely skilled at shooting.

There was another sharp noise, this time steel slicing cleanly and forcefully through flesh and bone, as Hoji was cleaved nearly in half. He died so quickly that his face still held a malicious cheerfulness and gloating victory.

By that time, he was at his friend's side, checking to see if the smaller man was still alive. To his relief, there was faint breathing, but the lips were covered in bright red blood that was probably from his lungs. As if to confirm this, Kenshin gave a heaving cough, spilling the crimson liquid down the corners of his mouth and neck, where it pooled in the dip between his collarbones.

"Kenshin buddy, you're alright!"

"The Battousai is hardly well." A harsh, snide voice corrected him.

Knuckles cracked, which caused a flare of pain to shoot up the man's arms, but didn't stop his flaring temper, "You bastard! Haven't you ever heard of being positive?"

"Useless."

"Fine," The younger man snapped back, "You got a plan to get us out of here? Shishio royally kicked all our asses and now Kenshin's been shot!"

His white clothing, which he had torn off to try to stop the bleeding, was turning a dark, burgundy color. No matter how hardy his friend was he had been shot in the chest. The bullet hole was so small and round; how it could possibly do so much damage was a mystery to the young man.

Receiving no reply to his question, Sanosuke looked up. For a moment, all he saw was blurry red, but then he realized that he needed to wipe his eyes.

Shishio was still standing over Hoji's body with Yumi and Aoshi looking on. Neither seemed particularly shocked at the brutal slaying of the former Juppongatana member. Shishio looked supremely displeased at his lost chance to fight a challenge and glared down with disgust.

The former hitokiri barely whirled in time to catch the katana aimed for his lower left shoulder.

"Get out of here!" Saitoh commanded, loosing his footing and stumbling back slightly. He snarled in pain, bringing his sword up into a strained guard position.

"Saitoh! You're in no shape to fight like that! Are you crazy?" Sano bellowed. Everyone knew that Usui had placed deep slashes on Saitoh's upper legs, hindering his Gatotsu, not to mention the abrasive treatment the tall man had received at the hands of Shishio earlier in the battle. He shouldn't have been standing, let alone initiating a suicide attack!

"Moron." Saitoh snorted cynically and turned his back.

"Do as he says."

Damn that Shinomori. Did he have to be so quiet? Sneaking around all the time!

"But…"

"Himura requires medical aid immediately," there was a slight pause, "As do we. There is nothing to be gained here. Allow Saitoh to buy us the time to escape and regroup."

As much as Sano hated to admit it, the cold jerk was right.

Gathering his broken friend gently in his shaking, bruised arms, he hugged the small body tight. Kenshin wouldn't die! He had faced much worse, much, much worse.

But he had overheard Megumi talking with Doctor Genzai one time… Kenshin couldn't possibly be that frail! No way. Even if his body was abused and overused, he was still strong. Look at his back-to-back fights with Aoshi and that Soujirou kid.

"Hang on there buddy. We'll get you some help and you'll be good as new." Sano murmured in a low voice between pants. Broken ribs made it very hard to run Sano was finding out. "Don't you dare die. Think of all the people counting on you and think of Japan. No, it's more than that. Think of the Missy. She's really attached to you, you know? And Yahiko, that little punk, he looks up to you. Hell, I look up to you! You can't leave us."

Aoshi, who had been running ahead and seemed to know where he was going, abruptly skittered to a stop. He had his swords out in front of him and a deadly look in his blue eyes.

"Ah, Mister Shinomori and Mister Sagara."

"Seta."

"Move kid." Sano requested, intending to bully his way through.

To his surprise, the slight swordsman complied with his rude request by stepping lightly to the side. Aoshi peered cautiously at the boy, who gave a disarming smile and asked, "Lord Shishio won, didn't he? I believe that Mister Himura was wrong in his ideals. Otherwise, he would have won, right? Oh well. Perhaps Lord Shishio will let me remain, despite being weak." He frowned at this before blithely plastering on another, less convincing smile. "But what would Lord Shishio say if I allowed all of you to escape?"

Sano got this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

His instincts rarely failed him.

"I should take at least one of you back with me." The child protégé continued, "So whom shall it be?"

Aoshi started to take a step forward and was surprised when a big hand stopped him.

"Take Kenshin back to the Aoiya." Sano said, gently tipping the unconscious man's body into the ninja's arms. For once, Sano saw something in Aoshi's eyes other than coldness: surprise.

"As you wish." Then the ninja was gone.

"So," Sano paused to catch himself on the wall. Sheesh, now even his legendary endurance was failing him. At least Kenshin would be safe. Aoshi would take him back to the Aoiya, of that Sano had faith. "Where to?"

"My Mister Sagara," Soujirou remarked with a concerned tone, "You seem injured. Did you fight Lord Shishio?"

"Yeah, I fought the crooked bastard. He kicked my ass too. Wanna end my misery?" From somewhere Sano dredged up a cocky smile and wore it until he fell flat on his face. "Fuck that hurt."

"I will get you some bandages. Wait right here if you would."

"Where the hell would I go?" Sano croaked hoarsely, rolling so that there was less pressure on his chest.

"You do have a valid point. Unless, of course, Mister Shinomori decides to return and retrieve you. Also, where is the other member of your party? Mister Saitoh?"

"'ell if I know." Sano slurred, "Getting' hisself kill prolly."

"You should rest Mister Sagara."

Kamatari was staring bleakly up at the sky. Somehow the blue just seemed too bright and the sun too cheery.

The attack on the Aoiya had been a complete disaster.

He sighed and pushed against the ropes. That stupid girl, saving him. Didn't she know that the weak deserved to die for their failure? He had failed Lord Shishio; he didn't deserve to live.

"Oh, you're awake."

Kamatari stared past his visitor with a blank look.

"The police are coming to pick you up."

"Good to know. I'll write you from prison." Kamatari replied dourly. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to savor my time outside."

"Aren't you hungry?" The girl persisted, curious. She didn't seem to be in too much pain, or if she was, she wasn't showing it at all.

"I thought you hated me, and that I disgusted you."

She bit her lip uncertainly before replying humbly, "Lord Aoshi always told me I was too quick to make decisions, and that being a spy meant observing before acting."

"So are you saying you misjudged me?" Kamatari laughed, turning to look at the painful face she was making.

"No!"

"You were, weren't you? Well, no matter. We're enemies, so what does it matter what you think of me? I would still kill you if I were free."

"I know."

"Lord Shishio is my life."

"I understand."

Kamatari sighed.

"How could you? Do you have one person who is your whole world, and you failed them when they finally gave you a chance to prove your devotion?"

By the look on the ninja girl's face, she did.

Kamatari couldn't take a reflection of his feelings on such a young face. So he let his eyes roam around. Huge beams of wood and chunks of earth marked the tremendous battle that had taken place just an hour before. The smell of dried blood, dust, and gunpowder caked his nose.

He marveled at how quickly the odds had gone from in his favor to disastrous.

He had been winning; he had almost proved himself to Lord Shishio.

But in the end, things turned out quite differently from the envisioned victory. Hennya was dead. His explosives, which Kamatari had always maintained were extremely dangerous and unpredictable, had gone off unexpectedly in the middle of his aerial assault on the young boy.

Naturally, with the amount of gunpowder stored in the bombs he was using, there wasn't even scraps of skin left to show he was once human. The boy was seriously injured, which had set the young woman, Kaoru off. Both she and the ninja girl attacked Kamatari. Which, individually, would not have been a challenge in the slightest. Even attacking at once didn't make much of a difference… at first. Kamatari had shown weakness; he had underestimated them, and that was the cause of his failure.

The only part of the battle that had gone well had been with that big, stupid blob, who faced off against the four ninjas of the Aoiya. It was amazing to think that you could kill someone so easily as crushing their head and splattering their brains like cracked eggs, or that you could play origami with limbs and body parts. Too bad he only got two of them.

Kamatari wasn't too squeamish after his devoted following of Shishio, but that had just been plain wrong.

A twinge of feeling ran through Kamatari's numb wrists, and he twisted his head around to look at the ninja girl.

"What are you doing?"

"Untying you. What does it look like?"

"I could kill you."

She gave a snort, "You could try. Neither of us are in any shape to fight, and besides, your scythe is broken."

"True." He acknowledged.

It was better to escape and go back to Lord Shishio than to face the dubious custody of the Meji police. He doubted they would be particularly kind in light of his role in the current destruction.

"There."

Kamatari flexed his wrists, feeling the blood rush around, creating a painful tingling up and down his arms and fingers. When he put his weight on his leg, he had to wince.

"Thank you." He said, kicking the ropes. She peered at him, twisting her braid nervously. He smiled brightly, "It's always nice to have someone understand you. I'm sure we'll meet again, although I hope we won't be forced to fight as enemies."

With that, he limped off, avoiding the patrol that was just coming around the corner.

AN: I hope you all enjoyed the prologue; unfortunately my co-author seems to be writing the next segment as I write this so she's not here to comment. So I ask you to feed the fuel and write a review. Feedback (good or bad) is always welcomed! One of us will be updating once a week, so keep looking for the story!