A/N: Wow it's been a while. I have had lots of stuff to do lately. I noticed a significant decline in my number of reviews…what did I do? I'm sorry! I hope this makes up for it. Oh, and the fish man will only be known as the fish man because I feel like it. No, I'm just kidding, but I think it would be better for the story if he was known as the fish man.

Disclaimer: Trust in the force I do, knight he shall be…wait no. I do not own it…or Yoda either.

Chapter 10: Rescue At Last

Mika looked worriedly up at the fish man. Was this it? Was she really going to die? All she could do was sit and wait. She glanced over at Akira once more but this time he didn't even look back at her.

"Mika, it is customary for a person to respond when someone says hello," said the fish man.

Mika's eyes flicked up to his but then settled down on the floor.

"Oh that's too bad. I thought maybe a nice conversation would prolong what is to come. But…since you apparently don't care why don't we just get it over with. After all, that is why you are here isn't it?"

Mika's eyes shot up. Great fear was evident on her face. "Please…no," she whispered.

"Well, all right then. Since you cooperated I might as well tell you exactly why you're here. I mean yes, we all know why but do we really know? Do you Mika?"

"…Revenge?" Mika was disgusted and very afraid at how killing someone didn't seem to trouble this man at all.

" Yes, revenge is the main reason but it is so much more than that. The thought that one stupid and insignificant man could ruin my life never occurred to me. I was at the time the second best fish seller in the area. Eliminating my competition would ensure a great amount of profit. I had also planned to raise the price a bit."

The fish man began to pace back and forth, his suit shinning as he walked. After a short pause he continued to talk. "Now being the second best seller I didn't have enough money to buy my competitor out of his business, and being the incredibly evil person I am I thought, why not just kill him? People could still get their fish and I would be much happier. It wasn't going to be a huge loss. I mean I had done it countless times before. I jsut never anticipated the fact that some worthless peasant family could just ruin it all."

He stopped for a second as if trying to regain composure. He took one of his hands and ran it through what was left of his greasy hair. The fish man looked at Mika and smiled again, continuing his walk.

"So, because I didn't think of this tiny detail I suffered. Somehow the police found a record of all the idiots I had killed and thought it in the best interest of the people that I should be…eliminated. Thanks to a few of my good men I was able to escape. As you can imagine I was just a little upset that all my hard work had been for nothing. Naturally, I decided to avenge myself against the people who had…done this to me. Now you know I had a perfectly logical reason for setting your house on fire and trying to kill you. I know it may seem just a bit unfair, but in the large scheme of things I can assure you we are going to be even."

Mika felt the temperature in the room drop suddenly. "What do you mean by…going?" she squeaked.

"Well as you can obviously see you are still alive. I haven't achieved my goal just yet," replied the fish man.

Finally one the other side of the gorge Kenshin got back on his horse and searched for a new place to go. This ended quickly because there was nowhere else to go. There about fifty feet away from him was a huge mansion tucked beneath the trees. Kenshin tied his horse to a tree and slowly inched his way up to the gigantic house. He looked at the entrance. For being such a large mansion he was surprised that there were only a few guards. Maybe no one was expected to find the place unless they really wanted to go to it. After making sure there was no one else around Kenshin ran up to each of the guards and knocked them out with just his sheath. He placed his hand on the door. There was a large possibility no one would be there. Taking his chances Kenshin pushed open the door and immediately got into a fighting stance.

Just as Kenshin thought there was no one there. He quietly walked down the hall of the great house making sure to be very aware of his surroundings. Kenshin heard some laughter coming out of a door to his right. Maybe this was where Mika was being kept. He walked up do the door and gently put his head on its surface. In the room there were two men. Kenshin could smell a very heavy scent of sake.

"So how much did you get paid this week?" said one of the men.

"Not as much as you did. But there was a nice girl involved in the mission," the second voice replied.

"Well to me, that seems like the best payment," said the first voice.

"Nah, I couldn't do anything. The boss gave her to Akira and I heard he let her go."

"Why would the boss do a stupid thing like that?"

"I guess it was motivation to capture this new girl."

"Yeah, that Akira is really bothering me. I was here before him!"

"That may be true but I've been here longer!"

The first man snorted. "No way. The boss wouldn't hire a dimwit like you first."

"What did you call me?"

"That's right, you're a dimwit. You always mess everything up."

"Take that back, right now."

"Make me."

Apparently the second man did get into a fight. Kenshin heard bottles being broken and furniture being tossed around. It would make his job much easier if only one of the men were conscious, so he waited. After about three minutes the noise stopped. The strange thing was that there was no sound at all. Kenshin opened the door and stepped inside.

"Oro…"

Both men were unconscious on the floor. They had apparently knocked each other out with sake bottles. This was not going to help. To make things worse Mika wasn't in the room either. Where could she possibly be? Kenshin was struggling to keep self-control. Before he could do anything he'd regret later he walked up to one of the men and bent down. Kenshin grimaced at the man's horrible breath. Deciding that he wouldn't be much of a problem Kenshin took out his sword and held it to the man's neck. He slapped him a few times and finally got the man to wake up.

"Wha, who the hell are you?"

"That really doesn't matter right now. All I want for you is to tell me where they are keeping her."

"Who in the world are you talking about?"

Kenshin put more pressure on his sword. "You know who I'm talking about, where is she?"

"Why should I tell you?"

Kenshin audibly sighed. Why did he always have to deal with the stubborn ones? To answer the man's question he put even more pressure on his sword.

"Okay, okay lay off all right? I'll take you to her."

"If you try anything I'll take you out before you can blink, understand?"

"Yeah just lay off."

Kenshin got off the man but kept his sword on him. The man slowly walked out of the room and started down the hall. He stopped at the marble staircase. Kenshin's eyes widened as he looked at the large hole in the side of the stairs. That must have been where Mika was.

"Is she in there?"

"No, she's not. Giant monkeys are!"

Tired of the man's stupidity Kenshin quickly sheathed his sword and smacked him on the back of the head, knocking him out. "Finally you'll just be quiet, that you will."

Kenshin stepped inside of the passageway under the stairs. It was dark but that would be no problem. His eyes had been trained to see in the dark. His biggest problem at this time was his lack of clothing. Being in the house was nice but the draft in the passageway was not. Putting the cold to the back of his mind Kenshin started his long walk down the passageway.

"So Mika, is there anything you'd like to say before we kill you?" the fish man asked quite casually.

Mika sank to the floor. She covered her face with her hands and started to shake her head.

"Well then I guess we can let the fun get started."

"Wait…I have just one question," whispered Mika.

"What would that be?"

"Would killing me really make you happier? You would still have to work to get your money back. I don't see how killing me will change that."

"You are very correct. Killing you wouldn't help me get more money. I'd be very happy that the people responsible for my downfall were gone though. It won't take long to go to another part of Japan and start a new fish market. I also have a lot of greedy men who would steal for me just to get some of the profit."

"So I really can't change your mind?"

"No. Let's do this already shall we? Akira, because you were so persistent in capturing her and since you finally succeeded I will let you have the honor of taking her life."

Akira looked up. Did he just hear correctly? Was he the one that was to kill Mika? He looked down at Mika on the floor. Her eyes had widened as far as they could go. He could hear her pleading in the back of his mind. It was so difficult to watch her sitting there with tears rolling down her face. Could he really do it?

"Akira, you are wasting my time. Hurry up and kill her already or else you get no pay."

Akira suddenly had a thought. "Wait boss, if I kill her here there is going to be a huge mess on the floor. Why don't we just do it outside?"

"I don't care about the floor I can have it replaced. I want to see her go in front of my eyes. Do it now!"

Akira slowly walked up to Mika. He looked down at her and slowly slid one of his daggers out. Mika shut her eyes. The vibration of the dagger being unsheathed echoed on in her ears. Akira placed the cold steel of the dagger against Mika's throat. She inhaled deeply but her exhale came out as a sob. Could he really do it?

"Akira if you don't stop this nonsense right now I'll do it myself!" said the fish man.

"WILL YOU GIVE ME A SECOND?" Akira didn't mean to yell at the fish man, it just kind of came out.

"What could you possibly want more time for? The faster we do this the sooner we can all leave! I'll set the rest of my men on you if you don't kill her now."

"You know that I could take all of them out. I'm the best fighter here! So don't rush me."

The fish man grudgingly acknowledged this fact. "Fine, just hurry up will you?"

Akira turned back to Mika. She still had her eyes closed but he could feel her fear radiating off her body. Just then another presence was felt in the room. Everyone's eyes turned to the entrance of the passageway. Kenshin was standing in the archway, taking in the scene before him.

"Who are you?" cried the fish man.

"My name is Kenshin Himura and I would be really grateful if no harm was done to her."

"Samurai, how did you get here?" asked Akira.

"I followed your tracks. You also left this." Kenshin pulled out the dagger he had found earlier.

Akira's mind drifted back to the stop he made in the forest. He was sure he had put his dagger back after using it.

"Oh perfect Akira, you left tracks and clues as to where our hideout was. How much stupider can a person get?" said the fish man.

"But…I…" Akira was confused. He had no idea what to do.

"Akira if she isn't dead in the next five seconds you will pay for it."

"Wait! Don't kill her please! I know you don't want to, I can sense it."

"No Akira, kill her now!"

"You don't want to do that. Killing her will only make you feel worse it won't solve anything. Think about what you are doing."

"Just do it!"

No matter what Akira decided Kenshin was not going to let Mika die. He would never forgive himself if she did. Akira was obviously struggling with the decision as well. Akira was too close to Mika for Kenshin to make a move so all he could do was wait. Suddenly, the fish man lunged out at Mika. Akira pulled his dagger away to protect her but stabbed the fish man in the process. Time seemed to stop for a few seconds. Akira had killed the fish man.

Mika fainted from stress and shock. Akira quickly picked her up and bolted towards the passageway. Kenshin followed Akira down the passage to stairs. They stopped at the stairs to figure out if they had enough time to get to the front doors. Wait…they were probably the two fastest men in the entire building. Kenshin looked at Akira and Akira stared straight back at him. They nodded and ran toward the front doors. Once outside Akira gave Mika to Kenshin.

"Listen, I'll distract them. You focus on getting her home."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You can come back with us!"

"No, I need to stay here. Don't worry I'll see you soon, just go!"

"All right, be careful."

"Just make sure Mika gets home okay!" Akira prepared himself for the men that were bound to come out of the entrance any second.

Kenshin ran with Mika in his arms to his horse. He got on top as fast as he could and started to gallop back towards the bridge. There was no time to be careful now. He had to get across it. Kenshin increased the speed of the horse and took off on the bridge. The planks were falling off it on every step the horse took. Why didn't he just leave the horse on the other side? A few feet away from the end of the bridge Kenshin took the horse and jumped the rest of the way to ensure their safety. As soon as they were across the rest of the bridge collapsed. How was Akira going to get back? Turning his thoughts on to more important matters Kenshin turned his horse around and sped through the forest. Mika might die of shock and he may fall off his horse from the cold. He needed to get back soon.

A/N: Oh boy, second to last chapter. Only one more to go! When making the fish man's speech I was thinking about all the crazy villains who speak in riddles. They can't give you straight answers. They also get really agitated when they don't get what they want. So I thought that persona would be perfect for him. As for Akira, he really is a good person. But he killed the fish man! Oh well, I had planned that from about chapter four. One of you had made a comment about how Kenshin should talk Akira out of fighting and I liked that idea so it's there. Hope you guys liked this!