Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is not mine, nor are any of it's characters. If you have a problem with that... you should probably go see a psychiatrist because that's just not healthy...

Take My Breath Away

Prologue

The moon glittered down through the parting clouds, sending solitary shafts of light to sprawl across the land like so many ethereal fingers, brushing away the shadows with only a touch. The earth itself was quiet and undisturbed, the only movement being the ripples of creatures dwelling in the recesses of darkness, and it was these very ripples that left nature silent when in the dead of night.

Even so, there are some beings that even night-urchins choose to avoid.

The city stood in the distance, its bright, artificial lights easily seen from the secluded hilltop mansion. It was the only housing that existed for miles, despite its proximity to the city, with only the trees to act as neighbors. Few people ventured up to the estate, and when they did it was strictly for business purposes, though many a person might whisper about the cars traveling in that direction late at night. Either way, the house was all but deserted to the ignorant citizen, and furthermore daunting with its pristine, white granite walls and black iron gates that were never open. And this was exactly how its owner preferred to live.

He was a shrewd, vicious little man with squinting eyes of muddled green-brown and a balding head of grey, scraggly hair. Despite his wealth, he had never learned the virtues of good manners or posture, and so stood with hunched shoulders and a mannerism that was anything but refined. Furthermore, he was a man who only knew success through underhanded means, and made it his mission to step on any person who got in the way of his dealings.

To summarize the man: he was a wretched, cowardly, evil snake of a human who thought nothing of anyone but himself.

It was these very traits that caused the disturbance among nature that night.

The man, Hiroyuki Toshi, stood just within his household, up in the second floor bedroom, speaking heatedly with another, well-dressed man when the figure first approached the black manor gates. It was simple enough to see into the house, the windows large and accommodating while bright fluorescent lights flared against the black of the night. Hiroyuki was red in the face, apparently with anger or something of the like, flailing wiry arms in all directions, while the second figure stood passively by, speaking at intervals and never shifting from the relaxed, authoritative air he held while seated in a comfortable-looking armchair in the corner of the room. To any other person, the sight might have been comical.

But the figure standing outside the gates was not "any other person," and certainly found no humor in the situation whatsoever. Instead, there was only a sharp pang of irritation.

He was supposed to be alone.

But he wasn't. In fact, Hiroyuki Toshi just happened to be "entertaining" one of the most influential businessmen in Japan – a fact that did not bode well for the intentions of the shadowed figure. How the scrawny little shrew had come into contact with a man of such power, and thus a strong deterrent, could not even be fathomed, but the figure knew the situation was to be remedied if the night's mission was to be completed successfully.

And so the only solution was to wait.

Easily vaulting the high marble walls with little more than a practiced jump, the shadowed one was within the gardens of the estate in a matter of mere seconds, becoming part of the darkness instantly and easily avoiding the video cameras scanning the grounds. It was from this vantage point that the figure watched the two men, eyes narrowing scathingly in order to read the distinct, swift movements of the lips through the sound-obstructing windows.

'You told me it would be ready last week, Hiroyuki-san. You lied. I do not like liars,' the seated man said calmly, his face impassable and unreadable from the distance of the figure. Hiroyuki himself seemed to only become more flustered.

'I said it was possible, Katsura-san, I made no promises.' Wrong answer. The man named Katsura frowned – a look that the stranger knew was dangerous. It was not smart to piss off a political mastermind, which was exactly what Katsura Kogoro was. Any other political boss might have had bodyguards with him at the moment, men who would make sure that Hiroyuki Toshi never lied again, but Katsura was not a typical man of power. He dealt in much more devastating consequences…

'I see…' He stood then, straightening his jacket out and smoothing away the creases, eyes shifting to the sniveling man who dared tell him anything other than what he wished to hear. 'I will give you another week, Hiroyuki-san, but I sincerely hope you have it by my return. There are few men as lenient as I. You should take that into consideration…' And with that Katsura Kogoro disappeared from the bedroom, a minute later reappearing coming down the stairwell to the first floor and the eventual doorway. Hiroyuki did not move from his spot upstairs, and seemed to be mulling over Katsura's words with a rather ill attitude.

The figure watched as the businessman stepped outside of the mansion, closing the door securely and pausing on the stoop to look out into the night. Suddenly, he turned towards the gardens and the place where the shadows protected their patron. Nothing was said, and the figure wondered if Katsura truly saw through the darkness before there was a discrete, confirming nod from the powerful man. It looked more like Katsura was simply acknowledging the fine rosebushes by the house, but a grim smile curled across those hidden lips. It was not a look of pleasure.

Katsura walked off as though he had never come to a stop, disappearing into his own respective shadows. A moment later, the figure could see the click of interior car lights as they flashed on and heard the distinct slam of a door, the lights fading. By this time Hiroyuki Toshi was watching from his bedroom window, as easy target even from his angle and distance. The man would make it too easy…

The figure waited until the car had driven away from the house and disappeared beneath the hills, long gone from sight and mind before daring to move towards the front door. In the meantime, Hiroyuki Toshi had retreated downstairs to the kitchen, and then to the study at the very back of the house. This was the hard part of the task, not that that was saying much so far.

Cameras were perched around all the doors of the household to catch sight of anyone entering or exiting. The windows were all motion- and shatter-protected, so if anyone were to smash or even touch one from the outside, an alarm would be triggered. The house itself was sealed tightly and maintained in a pristine fashion, much as it looked from first glance, and so the figure already knew it was ridiculous to think that there might be any other neglected entrances. In the most base of senses, it was impossible to enter or leave the mansion estate unnoticed.

But that was where the protection stopped. Hiroyuki Toshi was a foolish man who believed that the most important form of protection was in knowing who and when someone was entering his household. He had built himself a virtual fortress of cameras and sensors around the entire estate, hard to avoid unless one knew exactly where to step and how to do it, but he had completely neglected any personal protection including bodyguards and internal cameras. That was mistake number one.

With practiced skill, a stungun was pulled from the inside of a sleek black jacket and aimed at the back of the farthest camera. It was fired with the simple pull of a trigger, the electrical projectile ejecting and flying cleanly across the embed itself into the mechanical device and send 220 volts of electricity through, effectively causing a very believable malfunction. Another press of the trigger, and the projectile returned as though it had never been. Simplicity always was the best policy.

The intruder, albeit being careful to elude the remaining camera scopes, infiltrated the house by essentially walking through the front door.

Once inside, it was simple enough to hide in a niche of one of the adjacent rooms and watch the movements of the weasely little man as he puttered about between the kitchen and study, awake for the next hour to tinker with his own concerns and make some rather angry calls to various locations. After a time, though, a more confident Hiroyuki-san finally stepped from his office and shut off the lights that adorned the lower level, leaving the rooms and the hidden stranger in darkness. The oblivious tenant wandered up the stairs to his bedroom, making a great deal of noise before finally seeming to settle into some sort of activity that left a faint, careful tapping sound floating down the stairwell, along with a sedated form of yellow light. It was then that the figure finally unfurled itself and began to move.

The silent shadow crept through the dark house unnoticed, still hearing the occasional creak or thud of movement above. The house itself looked eerie in the blue moonlight that streamed down through the massive windows of the mansion, flooding the common room and foyer with ethereal shafts that somehow made the interior glow with frozen life. There was something beautiful about nights like these, but that beauty was currently lost upon the occupants of the house. Instead, the figure only had eyes for the approaching stairwell and the silence beneath gentle feet, while Hiroyuki Toshi was wholly absorbed in his own personal problems and the thought of what he might do to fulfill Katsura Kogoro's expectations.

Only one of them knew it was too late for the other.

It was almost too simple to reach the upstairs hallway undetected. Hiroyuki was a man who prized himself in an excellent alarm system, but was clearly an idiot when it came to anything else. It was insulting.

Upon reaching the edge of the hallway and the half-cocked door of the master bedroom, Hiroyuki could be seen tapping away at a computer in the corner, mumbling to himself as a small lamp cast pale light over his work, the main lights shut off. The man seemed to be living in his own little world, relaxed and obviously self-assured that he was not now, nor would he ever be in danger while within the confines of his home. That sort of personal reassurance was deadly to the health, especially now. Even the most basic of cautions could have made this a much more difficult night… or at least a more exciting one, but instead it was like walking the dog.

Years of stealth had made jobs like this more than standard for the shadow, but it was still something to be annoyed with when the challenge had left long ago. That particular line of work was no longer as celebrated as it had once been, and now had fallen to be classified only as 'murder' instead of assassination. There was a difference. But it did not matter either way, a job was a job, and a job done well meant that there was one less person to threaten the well-being of good, innocent people. Hiroyuki Toshi had done more than considerable damage in his lifetime.

Well, it was best to get it over with and do what was required.

Pushing aside the door soundlessly, the figure stepped into the room, pulling a gleaming piece of steel out from under that same coat to brandish in the light. There was no emotion on that face when the figure first spoke, only a deadly calm upon the voice as it rang clear and true:

"Hiroyuki Toshi, I have come for your life."

That night, no one would hear the screams.

AN: Yay! New story! A rather short prologue, I know, but it's just meant to be an introduction for the fic. Hope you liked it, the next chapter will be longer. Thanks for reading!

-Sar