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


:: June 3rd ::

:: 2.51 am ::

:: JE 394 ::

Aoshi Shinomori liked the night. That was expected, he was a ninja after all. The leader of the Oniwabanshu should feel more comfortable in the dark than the light. So he sat in his study early in the morning and finished the paperwork for their latest case, thoughts drifting down the hall and into Misao's room. She was sick, and he was worried. She wasn't getting better. The doctor Okina had brought in hadn't known what was wrong with her, settling for giving her an anti-biotic. But that made Aoshi even more worried.

The Oniwabanshu was a privet organization, and dealt mostly with the Touched who caused large companies or rich people problems. It wasn't unheard of for them to work along side Aku Sentou, but the Oniwabanshu didn't like it. They were ninjas, and dealt with things in secret as a rule. Aku Sentou, on the other hand, was public, messy, and sloppy.

Except for the Shinsengumi.

Aoshi considered briefly calling Megumi, but then removed the thought from his head. No matter past relations, the woman worked for Aku Sentou now. She was a professional, and he couldn't trust her to keep it off the books. He did not want Aku Sentou meddling in the business of the Oniwabanshu, even just for medical treatment.

Aoshi stilled his thoughts then, as he felt the wards at the gate pull. He tracked the person as they walked up the path, and then halted at the front door, making no move to knock or enter. They were familiar, but only slightly, and knew the ways of his house. Deciding, Aoshi stood and made his way to the door, a silent command sweeping aside its wards. Then he opened it.

There stood someone he had never thought to see there. Wearing his usual bleached jeans, black shirt and white button up, complete with that ridiculous red headband, Sanosuke Sagara looked back at him seriously. The white outfit clashed with the darkness behind him, and Aoshi was reminded of what a horrible ninja Sagara would be. It only re-enforced his opinion of Sentou Agents.

"Why are you here?" Sagara looked him in the eye, and for a heart stopping second Aoshi thought they were gold. But the moment passed and they were brown again, and Sagara was speaking.

"I need your help."

"Mine?"

"Yeah." And Aoshi understood. Silently he stood aside, a wordless invitation. Sagara entered with a grim face and a thankful nod of his head.

It was a good thing he liked nights, because this was sure to be a long one.


:: September 14th ::

:: 8.56pm ::

:: JE 380 ::

"Captain!" Sanosuke heaved for breath, bringing his sword up again to block the attack. The nine year old held his ground against the grown man with grim determination. "Captain, they've got guns!" The small, spikey haired boy yelled out in warning, ducking as another Aku Sentou Sweeper Agent swung for his head. Katsu came to his rescue, bringing about his gun with practiced ease and firing on the man attacking Sano from behind. Katsuhiro was older than he was, so the captain had taught him how to use a gun. The thirteen year old had taken to it quickly.

"Sano, stay down and out of their way!" Katsu told him, grabbing the lapels of his Sekihotai jacket and pulling him into an alley. "Captain's orders!"

"Why are we being attacked? We're on the same side, this makes no sense!"

"One of the men in our unit was Touched by a Wolf on our last mission. Aku Sentou thinks its spread, but there's no way to tell in people if it's dormant and will activate later. So they're killing the whole unit."

"But that's stupid! They need everyone they can get to fight the Shinsengumi; they were Aku Sentou's best!"

"They also don't want another of their divisions to go rogue, so they're exterminating any and all possibility of that happening."

"What do we do?"

"I am going to go back out there and help the Captain. You are going to stay right here and not get killed." With that Katsu turned and jumped back into the fight, guns wielded expertly in small hands. Sano glared out at the people before him. The Sekihotai were loosing. Not obviously, but they were.

The Sekihotai, trained in self defense, protection, back up, and a swift kill, were so much more skilled than the newest addition to the Aku Sentou. Sweepers were poor substitutes for the highly trained and disciplined Shinsengumi. But still, four Sweeper units, bumbling, unorganized, and heavily dependent on guns, were a much greater threat than one Sekihotai division that had suffered recent casualties.

Scared out of his mind, but loyal to the end, Sanosuke picked up a gun and rejoined the fight.


:: June 3rd ::

:: 3.14am ::

:: JE 394 ::

Sanosuke shifted uncomfortably on the traditional tami mats that the Oniwabanshu restaurant used. Aoshi Shinomori didn't look the slightest bit uncomfortable. He didn't look anything, actually, but that was the way the sorcerer always was. Sanosuke again doubted his decision to come, and again ran through his other options. Right, he didn't have any. So, freaky ninja sorcerer it was.

"There's something wrong with me, and I can't figure out what." Sanosuke said finally, only to cringe at his word choice. If this wasn't Aoshi, and he wasn't serious, that could have been a blow to his pride. Thank god he hadn't gone to Megumi with that line. He could just hear her. 'I've known that for years, bird-head, and I can tell you exactly what's wrong with you. Give me a moment and I can print out a list.'

"I came here because you're not Aku Sentou, and anyone else I could go to wouldn't be able to figure it out any more than I have. Trust me when I say you were my last choice."

"Tell me." Sanosuke let out a breath of relief, and told Aoshieverything. It came out in a jumbled mess, things he remembered out of order, or stuff he hadn't thought strange until put with the rest of it. Aoshi stayed absolutely silent throughout the whole explanation, even when Sanosuke put in some confused and frustrated ranting.

"And this is all that damn bastard's fault!" Sanosuke concluded angrily, deciding it was absolutely fair to blame everything on Saitou. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and counted to ten. "Sorry." He mumbled to the other man, eyes on the table between them.

"This all started when?"

"About a month ago, I think. That raid was in the beginning of May. That was the first thing."

"And you said that during most of the severe incidents, an old wound on your shoulder pained you?"

"Yeah," Sanosuke rubbed at it automatically, not the first time that night. Morning. Whatever. "Only it's not so old, really. I mean, I have newer ones, but it's still a scar I got this year."

"How long ago?"

"Did I get it? Um, that was the end of March. I remember waking up from the surgery and finding out I'd missed April Fools Day. What a bummer. Another thing to kill Saitou for." Something flashed across Aoshi's face at his words, and Sanosuke sat up straighter. "What?"

"Captain Hajime Saitou, a Wolf of the Shinsengumi?"

"The one and only. What, did he put a curse on me or something?"

"He struck you down, and you lived?" It was very creepy when Aoshi Shinomori started putting emphasis on words. Sanosuke suddenly thought he preferred the monotone better.

"Uh . . . yeah?"

"Show me." Sanosuke, starting to get even more uncomfortable but refusing to leave without his answers, shrugged off his white shirt and pulled the black T over his head. The Sekihotai Agent jumped when Aoshi appeared at his side, long fingers reaching for the mark left by Saitou's blade. Sanosuke sat as still as possible while the sorcerer inspected it.

Aoshi was murmuring to himself as he did, (in monotone, which was reallyreally creepy) purple sparks crackling at his fingers as he did. Sanosuke caught most of it, considering the guy was right by his ear, but a whole lot of it was in languages he didn't understand.

"It's clean of magic," Aoshi informed him, pulling away. "And barring the effects of a strike from the Gatotsu, I don't see how it's connected."

"Two strikes." Sanosuke muttered absently, reaching up to rub at the spot again, trying to dissipate the numbness Shinomori's magic had caused. "I got up again. He really didn't like that." After a few seconds Sanosuke realized that Aoshi had frozen part way up, and was staring at him, hard. "What?"

As if his question had snapped the ninja out of a daydream, Aoshi started to move again. After sitting once again at his spot across the table, Aoshi resumed looking at Sanosuke, this time with an eerie light reflecting in his eyes. Sanosuke got the feeling that the ninja was attempting to look through him.

"Shinsengumi wolves licked their blades clean after a kill." Aoshi informed him. "No human is said to have survived a single Gatotsu attack, let alone two."

"But Kenshin–"

"Is Hitokiri, Touched, he is not human. And neither are you."


OMG! It's actually here! The fifth chapter of Touched has finally aired. For all of you who loved this and died waiting for this update, please check my profile for the low down on what's happening with it. I'd really rather not explain it again. Thank you to all of my reviewers.

—TS