Chapter 3

"Aoshi's been kidnapped."

Sano spit the tea he was drinking all over the table and looked at Misao like she had said Shishio was back from the dead. Kenshin had a stunned look on his face that quickly turned to puzzlement and worry. D looked quiet calm though his blue eyes scanned everyone's reaction to this situation as Misao sat there looking extremely depressed.

"How in hell did Ice boy get Kidnapped?" exclaimed Sano, still in a state of disbelief, "He's the best ninja in the whole of Japan."

"Indeed, Aoshi could not be taken easily. But the question is why and where is he now?" Kenshin said quietly, looking at Misao as he said each word.

"Miss, could you tell me what happened?" said D.

"Yes, I guess I better start at the beginning," said Misao, "Aoshi had been put on an assignment to watch an American newcomer to the Tokyo area since we had been hearing rumors about this person that didn't quite add up. Things like this person was only seen at night and silly things like that, one person even saying that the newcomer was a gaki. This seemed ridiculous except that shortly after their arrival several people were found dead with only two tiny marks on their neck."

Misao took a sip of tea and lowered her head a little, "Aoshi was given this assignment, to watch and to possibly stop the murders if he could so we both came to Tokyo. He came back from his watch after a few days to make his report and said that nothing was out of the ordinary. By the time he went to work everyone in the inn was in bed and I was bringing him his evening tea." Misao closed her eyes and swallowed back her tears. Noticing her distress, Kenshin offered her some more tea and a tissue.

"Thank you Himura," she said and took a long drink of tea. Setting the glass back on the table she continued. "I had just about reached his room when I heard sounds almost like a fight, and a woman's voice inside. I must have dropped the tea tray in my rush to get there and I heard a huge crash and the sound of his window slide being broken. When I got inside the room," Misao hiccuped, almost in tears again, "Aoshi was gone, the place was a mess. The only clues I had were blood stains on the floor and this note."

Misao withdrew a folded piece of paper and laid it on the table so they all could see. Sano and Kenshin immediately looked puzzled since the note was written in another language. D picked up the paper and began to translate the note to everyone's astonishment.

"To the members of his house, I have taken the one you call Aoshi for my own

and I intend to keep him for all eternity. Within the next two weeks he will become a

different man from the one you knew. Do not try to find him since that would be

impossible. Say your fair well's to the man named Shinomori Aoshi and forget you ever knew him.

- Mari de Marquisa

"Well Shit! Who the hell does this," Sano shouted as he stumbled over the foreign name, "Mari de Marquisa think they are?"

"Mari is a powerful westerner from a place known as Norway, then moved to America," said D. "She trades in furs and gems since her family has access to fertile grounds that have both mines and rich hunting. But I don't know why she would be interested in Japan or your Aoshi."

"You know this person D-dono?" asked Kenshin politely but firmly.

"Yes, I have been after her for years." D reached into a bag on his side and withdrew a small portrait of a beautiful young woman in her early twenties. Her hair and skin were pure white and her eyes the whitest kind of blue imaginable. The smile the painter had given her seemed to promise everything you could desire, for a price.

Sano couldn't seem to find his voice as he looked at Mari's picture. D put the small picture back into his bag and turned to Misao.

"I will help you."

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R&R as always!