Disclaimer: The characters of Rurouni Kenshin are not mine. I am using them without the permission of their owner. By writing and posting this story I am in no way gaining profit.

Line brakes are changes in view, time and/or scene.

:: Words :: in colons dictate setting.

Words in Italics are thoughts and emphasis.

Words in Bold are sixth sense perceptions. (i.e. ki sense.)

Words in Bold and Italic are the inner speech of Hitokiri. (i.e. Battousai talking to Kenshin)

Author's Note: Please pay attention to the dates. They're there for a reason. Story rated for some moderate to hard language. Thank you. —TS


:: May 17th ::

:: 1.13 am ::

:: JE 394 ::

Sanosuke came to his senses stumbling down an alley. He halted abruptly, surprised at the change in his surroundings. Groaning as the world spun Sanosuke leaned against a wall. He ached, really badly. Like he'd been tied down and beat up – not that any kind of rope could keep him down. Then memories of a bar and drowning sake came to the surface of his mind. Hazy images were recalled after that: staggering down the street to his house and getting jumped by a lot of men.Touched Sanosuke corrected himself, and then wondered how he knew that.

Drip . . . drip . . . drip.

Something was leaking. Sanosuke looked down to where he heard the noise and found a puddle of dark water. He stared at it for a couple of minutes, trying to get his thoughts in order and brain working. It was then he realized the puddle wasn't water. Quick hands searched his person, looking for the injury that was bleeding. Adrenalin masked pain. Even if he didn't feel it, if he was dripping blood he was probably hurt badly. But the search only found him covered in blood and with no injuries.

Sanosuke started regulating his breathing with deep, purposeful breaths; trying to forgo the inevitable panic attack, being covered in someone else's blood and having no idea how it happened. He pressed his forehead against a cool brick wall, breathing in and out, pushing his tongue absently against the roof of his mouth . . .

Sanosuke turned and was violently sick, dry heaving until his body ached even more. He ran a shaking tongue along the outside of his teeth, the taste making him double over again. Quickly Sanosuke staggered to his flat, making his way to his bathroom immediately. There he scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed at his teeth, over and over, with toothpaste and hand soap.

Anything to get the taste of blood out of his mouth.


:: March 31st ::

:: 1.15 pm ::

:: JE 394 ::

Sanosuke pulled back quickly. Though he'd suspected it, it still surprised him. He'd gotten none of the warning signs of a Touched, and it was only experience and suspicion that made him look closer. It was probably luck he had seen the binds at all.

"You are a very perceptive person. I'm impressed, Sanosuke Sagara." He knows my name!

"You have no idea." Sanosuke shot back, hand going to the holster in his jacket.

"So Himura Battousai is not home." The salesman said, hand reaching behind him. "I guess I'll just leave him a gift then."

The man drew a sword.


:: May 29th ::

:: 2.58 am ::

:: JE 394 ::

After the incident two weeks ago, Sanosuke woke up the morning after and convinced himself that it was a very strange nightmare. He even managed to ignore the bloodied clothes in his garbage. Even so, he kept watch on the news for any unexplained murders. It only fueled his denial when there was none. Their latest case was a snap, and Sanosuke thankfully had no more strange incidents. He was very relieved when Kenshin stopped looking at him like he was going to sprout fangs.

"I'll have pasta with plain sauce, thanks." Sanosuke ordered, handing his menu to the pretty blonde waitress. He smiled flirtatiously at her, and she blushed, turning to the other occupants of the table.

"I want a steak! This one here." The young brown haired boy pointed to a spot on his menu.

"Yahiko!" The little missy reprimanded. "That's way too big for you."

"Sanosuke will help me finish it, won't you Sano?" Sanosuke had to exercise a lot of self-control to keep himself from turning green. He'd stayed away from meat since that terrible dream. The taste of blood still lingered, real or not.

"Sorry kid, you're on your own. It's Kenshin's dinner I'm stealing from today." Kenshin, who had that look on his face, watching him again.

"See! Get something else." Karou demanded of her brother.

"Fine fine, I'll get the Ramen dish."

"Will that be all?" The waitress asked politely. When everyone nodded their heads, she turned to leave.

"Did you see that?" Karou gushed. "She winked at you, Sano!"

"Of course she did, Missy. It's my rugged good looks and charm." Yahiko snorted next to him. That ended up becoming an argument that lasted until their food came, and then another after that. It started with Karou's 'Hey, I thought you were stealing from Kenshin!' when he nabbed her skewered pickle. He didn't really like pickles; he'd just done it to make her mad. All in all it was a really nice dinner. Kenshin even paid. Of course, Karou had made him leave the tip. She was probably been trying to set him up.

"Aren't you going to throw that out?" The young woman asked.

"Huh?"

"The tooth pick you got with my pickle."

"Oh." He had been chewing on it, hadn't he? Strange Sanosuke hadn't noticed. "Nah, I think I'll hold on to it just to remind you how bad your reflexes are."

"Why you . . ." Karou steamed. Yahiko and Kenshin laughed and both got lumps on the head for it. Just another normal day.


:: March 31st ::

:: 1.16pm ::

:: JE 394 ::

Shit!

"You came looking for a fight." Sanosuke pulled his gun, cursing Kenshin for being such a clean freak and leaving him without his sword, because damnit, all he had was regular ammo. There wasn't a cold iron weapon in sight. His gun was going to be useless – all it'd do was stall the actual fight, before the Touched man healed.

"Fine, you've got one." Sanosuke dropped his gun and threw his right hook. That always dropped them. Sanosuke grinned when his fist made solid contact, the thrum in his blood stirring at the fight. The man, however, just smiled into his fist. Spooked, Sanosuke pulled away.

"You are stronger than I had expected, stronger than most humans. But it doesn't matter." The sword was being transferred into his left hand, body sliding into what was an obvious sword form. It looked familiar. Where have I seen this before? Something about the left hand; that his sword is in the left hand is very, very bad. And realization struck. Eyes wide, Sanosuke muttered one word to the man flying towards him.

"Shinsengumi."


Okay, this chapter is dedicated to hitokiri.black because she put me on her Favorite Stories list. It encouraged me so much that I got this one out pretty fast. Well, fast for me. I warn everyone that intervals between updates will not be consistent. I've been pretty sick since the second week of school (the doctor thinks it's Mono) so I've had more time to write. Please Review, I want to know how I'm doing.

—TS