Disclaimer: I do NOT own PMK or its characters.

The site doc uploader is still buggy! Can't upload docs at all. Got to resort to export and paste tactics. (Rants). Do you know my documents get chewed up by the uploader? This is starting to kill the creative fangirl in me...

Anyhoe, here's another update.

An Assassin's Tale

Chapter 10

"You're not Souji!" Hijikata leapt back just in time to avoid being slashed. The swordsman before him was unnervingly like Okita. But Okita would never strike him…

"My, my, quite the looker, aren't you, Vice-chief? Just like my type of guy," Kichi mocked as he went in for the final strike… Steel rang on steel. "I've come to your aid, Vice-chief." Saitou Hajime. The sombre swordsman had parried his blow. "The resemblance to Okita, is uncanny…"

No! It was not supposed to be this way! He wasn't supposed to be around! Kichi attacked fiercely. Saitou sidestepped calmly.

Kichi sensed the blade being drawn and dodged. A flash of silver. Not quick enough. The blade bit through his garments and sliced into his flesh. Had he been a second slower, it would have gone through his heart… Shaken, he clutched at his wound, looking in disbelief at the speckling of blood on his hand.

Escape! He took a dagger from his clothes, threw it and ran.

It was not supposed to happen this way! Kichi paused to catch his breath. He seemed to have shaken off his pursuers. If he hadn't used that trick with the dagger… That person was not supposed to be there! His chest ached. The bleeding had stopped. He was lucky it was only a deep scratch. The guards were too stunned to give chase immediately when he fled.

He had run like a scared rabbit. A wave of disgust washed over him. Osu had advised him of the importance of strategic retreats on his missions. "An assassin who does not know when he is outmanoeuvred will not live to see sunrise." Still… he had been scared. There was nothing strategic about his retreat at all.

"Poor kid took poison over a failed affair… good of you to chant the sutras for him…" That voice sounded too familiar. Kichi ducked into a side alley. The morgue cart trundled slowly, jolting its sorry burden as two women struggled with the load. A third was chanting as she followed the cart. A sharp jolt brought the sack-covered burden into the dust. "Okitsu! I told you to be gentle!" Osu.

"It's not as though he's gonna feel anything!" The morgue keeper retorted sharply. She bent and hoisted the corpse back onto the cart with Osu's aid. The sacking slipped off enough for Kichi to catch a glimpse of the bloodless face. He gasped. It was a colleague. Yorimoto was always dreaming he would leave Yogotoya and start a new life with his lover. The stupid boy was not even out of his teens… Guess that lover found a new boy-toy…"Yorimoto…you baka…"

"Kichi?" Osu heard him. He tried to melt back into the shadows. "Kichisaburo, I know you there." He gave up and stepped out into a pool of moonlight.

"Kichi. You're hurt."

"Just a scratch… I better go. His Lordship is waiting."

"Don't be a fool! Come back to my place. Your brother…"

"I don't have a brother! And why the hell should I play whore for you?" He ran away down the street from the women and their cart. After that incident with the Mimawarigumi and tonight, there was no way… "Akira!" Osu yelled his childhood name after him. He paused momentarily then continued running until he was out of their sight.

"That is one messed-up kid." Emiko the local medium observed mildly as she broke off her chanting.

"If he pops up at my place, I'll tell you," the morgue keeper yawned. "Now, ladies, shall we get back to our business tonight and see this one off?"

"Kichi's working for Furube and his crazy Lordship."

"What? As in my ex-master who went loony some ten years back? You told us your Kichi's a bright lad! I'll love to put a spoke or two in Furube's wheel…" Okitsu smirked. "I wonder if his Lordship got over his precious little Saneakira? So you up to a little Kichi-snatching from Furube?"

"With all due respect, my retired kunoichi sisters, the old mansion is protected by Furube's vile spells. To venture in mindlessly would be suicide. You can easily be killed or go crazy from his illusions," Emiko pointed out. "I humbly suggest we let someone else clear the way for us… "

"Who will that be?" Osu asked.

"Three Miburou and Hotaru-chan. Perhaps sometime tomorrow night… That Hajime-kun should be able to work it all out by then." Emiko smiled slightly at the thought of her somewhat estranged grand nephew. "That one's always displayed uncanny psychic powers, although the rest of the Yamaguchi clan placed him in the same nut basket as poor deranged Auntie Emiko."

"Let Hotaru-chan in after the Miburou," Okitsu replied. "And kami let one of them be Hijikata the demon." The brothel keeper and medium sweatdropped. Kitsu-dono never quite got over having her only son killed by Hijikata some years back.

If only he had got back sooner… maybe he would have caught up with Akira. Maybe it was lucky Akira was not killed, at least he had escaped… Since both Kondou and Sannan had left for their mistresses' place shortly before the intruder was discovered, only Hijikata was there to take charge until they got back. Nervously, Okita looked from Saitou to Hijikata, then back again to Saitou. They were equally bleak-faced.

"Okita-san, perhaps this would be a good time to clear up certain matters…" Saitou prompted dryly, snapping him back into reality.

"Saitou! Souji has nothing to do with this!" Hijikata hissed. Saitou raised an eyebrow. "On the contrary, Hijikata-san, weren't you struck by the uncanny resemblance?"

"It's purely coincidence… I say we get hold of the bastard and have him executed publicly and painfully for this… How does boiling in oil sound?"

"Hijikata-san, no!" Okita cried out. "Please don't!" Hijikata was caught by surprise by his outburst. Souji fought to keep his emotions in check. "Saitou-san is right. I have something I have to tell you."

"Your twin?" Hijikata dropped his pipe when Okita was done. "Kami! Souji, even if he is your long lost twin … the attack on the Mimawarigumi, now this…"

"May I humbly recommend catching him before Sasaki gets impatient? From what I gather, Sasaki's been reading up on methods of extremely painful torture after that unfortunate incident with his men. I hear a cousin was among the dead," Saitou spoke. "Okita, even if you have to draw a sword against him, you mustn't hesitate. Okita-san?"

Okita got to his feet and fled from the room. He really didn't need to hear any of this. "Souji, get back here!" Hijikata roared.

"Calm yourself, please, sir. Let Okita-san have some time to cool down. I advise that we deal with this problem alone. Kondou-san and Yamanami-san need not be involved in this."

"I want this settled as soon as possible!"

"I sensed an aura about that person while we were duelling. It is familiar…" Saitou paused thoughtfully. "Perhaps I may be able to locate their hideout…"

Why? Souji slammed his door shut and all but ripped off his uniform haori. Why are you doing this? The wooden pig was not standing by the door as he had placed it earlier. It was lying on its side near the table. There was a bit of dirt from outside on the otherwise spotless tatami. He had been in here. "Buhi!" Saizou butted at the door. Souji opened it a little to let the piglet in.

"Buhi!" Saizou grunted a protest as his owner enveloped him in a hug. His piggy mind could not fathom why his beloved master was so upset.

Author's Notes:

Okitsu or better known as Kitsu-dono is an OC from my earlier fics. She's a morgue keeper, back street physician and a retired kunoichi. Emiko's also a minor OC from my earlier fics. She's a local psychic. I've given her a family connection with Saitou Hajime aka Yamaguchi Hajime. As a child, few people believed Hajime's ability to see the future. I'm letting the Yamaguchi clan have some other psychics, even if they are treated as loony, like Emiko.