Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is property of Watsuki Nobuhiro. If I did own it, it would be set in space and nobody would read it. Also, the information on grenades and maximum survivable body temperature comes from Wikipedia.

Once a Thief?

By Quadhelix

Chapter 3: The Counterattack

Megumi and Kaoru reached the clinic shortly after leaving the dojo, but it was already sunset. Akio ran in behind them, panting. Kaoru assessed their strategic positioning while Megumi went to check Tsubame's temperature. Kaoru began barricading the door with furniture.

"Her temperature is still just a little over one-hundred three degrees. It has been rising at about two degrees per hour and the absolute maximum temperature that the human body can survive is one-hundred thirteen degrees, but that is a maximum."

Meanwhile, Akio had started surveying the clinic. He noticed which chemicals were which and began mixing them while contemplating the uses of the various items in the room. After filling several containers with his mixtures, he went back to the front room and began to watch out the window. When Megumi asked what he was doing, Akio simply responded, "You'll see."

Finally, after nearly an half hour of waiting, the first raiders arrived. There were three of them, each carrying a wakizashi. Akio saw them through the front window and decided that it was better to use his ammo at range, where it would do the most good and was least likely to burn down the clinic.

Therefore, Kaoru and Megumi were surprised when Akio threw a small clay container right in the middle of the three bandits. The three bandits were equally surprised. All five were even more surprised when the container blew up, knocking the bandits unconscious and causing first and second degree burns and cutting the bandits with clay shrapnel.

Kaoru was the first to speak.

"What was that?"

"That was a homemade stun grenade. Don't worry, they aren't dead."

"Grenade?" Megumi knew the answer to that one.

"An English word for a thrown military explosive. The word comes from the Spanish word for 'pomegranate' and was first used in 1688, during the 'Glorious Revolution,' for the handheld explosives used in England at the time."

"Thank you, Megumi. So Akio, how many of those things do you have left?"

"I have four left, so we better use them sparingly."

Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sanosuke were not having such an easy time of things. As soon as they reached the dilapidated portion of town, which had taken twenty minutes just by itself, they were attacked by nearly a dozen bandits. Although the bandits had superior numbers and superior weaponry, Yahiko had superior training, Sanosuke had more experience, and Kenshin had both. Even still, the two groups fought it out for nearly fifteen minutes before the fight ended.

The battle began when the rogues, who had been hiding in some nearby building, spotted the Kenshin-gumi and charged. Kenshin drew his sakabatou and began using it to knock out his opponents. Sano simply punched his foes wherever he found an opening. Yahiko used the simple yet effective technique of evading and counterattacking. The enemy, however, was doped up on morphine, requiring the Kenshin-gumi to strike many times harder than usual, tiring them out more quickly than normal. The foe's unfair advantage also forced the Kenshin-gumi to aim more carefully for vital points, prolonging the battle. In fact, the enemy managed to get in several hits, including one on Yahiko's left arm.

By the time the battle was over, the bandits were all unconscious and the Kenshin-gumi was injured and slightly fatigued. Fighting against an adversary that could not feel pain was a difficult challenge. It did not help that they had been outnumbered by enemies with killing blades.

As the Kenshin-gumi continued into the borough, they slowed their pace and kept to the shadows to avoid further ambushes. They were able to stay concealed for nearly fifteen minutes; however, as the Kenshin-gumi passed through one alley, somebody tried to dump a large pile of burning waste onto them. Kenshin jumped to the roof and knocked out their would-be assassin before they continued with equal stealth.

Nearly an hour after leaving the dojo, the Kenshin-gumi reached their destination: the headquarters of the Black Akuma.

Akio had taken a back seat role in the fighting. Since he was only eight years old, physically feeble, and unskilled in any combat doctrine, he had been relegated to the role of standing back and watching for an opening.

Kaoru, on the other hand, was an active fighter and had managed to knock out several of her opponents as they had squeezed through the clogged door. Also, she proved to be adept at clubbing people on the head with thrown pieces of medical ware. Nevertheless, when the remaining half-dozen raiders had stepped back and began lighting torches, she knew that it was time to go on the offensive.

Pinching through the door, Kaoru charged as soon as she was out. Her first target, taken completely by surprise, was knocked out with a single blow to the temple. Kaoru then turned to face her remaining five adversaries. Grabbing the lit torch now at her disposal, she burned the hand of one of the residual bandits before clubbing him on the shoulder, sending him into dreamless slumber. Then, Kaoru delivered a thrust straight into the third brigand's gut, removing him from the fight.

It was at this point that Akio noticed that one of the remaining attackers was not fighting Kaoru but was instead sneaking toward the clinic with a lit torch. Akio prepared to throw his last grenade pulling his arm back for the throw. However, right as he was throwing the grenade forward, his meager strength suddenly failed him, causing the grenade to land at his feet. After that, all he felt was the clay shrapnel tearing into his body.

The loud noise distracted Kaoru just long enough; the next thing that she felt was a sword slashing across her back.

Kenshin's advanced training was the only thing that saved his life. Moments after he had ducked to the side, a small needle embedded itself in the wall behind him. If Kenshin had dodged a tenth of second later, the needle would have hit him in the neck, severing his carotid artery and killing him instantly.

"Well Yahiko-chan, I see that your new friends are quite skilled. Tell me this though: Are you ready to die for your betrayal?"

It was then that they saw their final opponent. He was a young boy, near Yahiko's age, dressed in black cloths and a black hood, perched atop the building like an angel of darkness, needles at the ready. It was he who had spoken.

Yahiko's growled response contained enough venom to kill half Tokyo, "Takumi. I should have known that you would be involved in this somehow."

The boy, Takumi, merely responded, "Well Yahiko-chan, since you went through all the trouble to get here, I think I shall grace you with the truth of what happened. I was the one who took the bracelet and hid it in your room for them to find." With this statement, Takumi began to smirk. However, he was not finished bragging.

"I was also the one who poisoned that lovely little wretch of yours. I picked the poison, I picked the target, and I went for the heart, Yahiko-chan, did I ever go for the heart!" His smirk grew as he boasted and by the end he was nearly cackling with glee. As Takumi's joy increased, so too, did Yahiko's anger.

A short note on Takumi and Yahiko's relationship is needed in order to understand the current situation. While both Yahiko and Takumi were drafted into the Yakuza at a young age, and while both possessed tremendous talent, the two were separated by their attitude and, to some extent, lineage. Whereas Yahiko saw himself as the descendant of noble samurai, and thus required to uphold their great tradition, Takumi saw himself as the beginning and end of his family line, and thus the person to whom he owed any loyalty. In short, where Yahiko resisted the Yakuza at every available opportunity, Takumi thoroughly embraced every opening to better his social position. Yahiko obeyed only to repay his false debts and made it clear that he did not want the confidence of those above him in the Yakuza. Takumi, on the other hand, obeyed every command with relish, accepted any mission, and took every risk to bring greater gains to his superiors and, by extension, himself. When Takumi was offered his first assassination mission, he jumped at the chance. Because of their conflicting viewpoints, Yahiko and Takumi viewed each other with disdain. To Takumi, Yahiko was a simpleminded romantic who had deluded himself into believing in his own possession of moral rectitude when no such thing exists. To Yahiko, Takumi was a black-hearted monster who had sold his own soul for the approval of their superiors. What this boils down to, however, is that a conflict between the two had been coming for some time, and that neither of them was going to be pulling any punches.
Given Takumi's belief in his own superiority, he had no qualms about baiting Yahiko. In Takumi's opinion, there was no better kill than one in which the prey thought that it was the predator. That might explain why he took out a vial of the poison and, displaying it to Yahiko from atop the roof, loudly boasted, "You need a sample of the poison? Well, here it is Yahiko-chan. This is the last of it: I've destroyed the rest. All you have to do to get it is defeat me. Then again, you always were the lesser of the two of us." With that Takumi put the vial away, jumped down from the roof and attacked.

Yahiko, acting purely on instinct, which had been drilled into him during the training he received from Kaoru, blocked all three needles with his shinai before charging with a loud yell. However, as Yahiko swung, Takumi dodged. Yahiko swung again. Takumi dodged again. Swing. Dodge. Swing. Dodge. This pattern continued for nearly a dozen times. Yahiko began to realize that he was gaining nothing from these exchanges. Takumi used Yahiko's hesitation to get in a counter attack.

Removing a needle from his pouch, Takumi decided to go for the slow kill. Kenshin and Sanosuke were holding back, knowing that if all three attacked at once, they would clutter up each other's range of motion and create an even bigger problem. With that in mind, Takumi took the needle and launched at Yahiko's left knee. Yahiko, whose arms were tired from the repeated strikes, was unable to block the attack. Pain flowered throughout Yahiko's leg while his knee locked up due to the obstruction. He had to act fast.

Dropping his shinai and tearing the needle from his knee, Yahiko charged Takumi for a body slam. As they both tumbled to the ground, Takumi rammed a needle into Yahiko's right shoulder paralyzing the arm attached. Yahiko's eyes grew wide and he began to crawl away shouting, "Please don't kill me!" over and over before getting up and running off down the street. While both Kenshin and Sanosuke were shocked at Yahiko's display of naked cowardice, neither hesitated in charging at Takumi. Takumi, who was almost satisfied by having Yahiko flee in terror and was also eager to savor his victory, took off to avoid fighting Kenshin and Sanosuke.

Although they searched the entire night, neither Kenshin nor Sanosuke could find any trace of Takumi or the poison that they so desperately needed. When morning came, the two warriors headed back toward the clinic to mourn Tsubame's passing.

To Be Continued…