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 ::

:: 3.29am ::

:: JE 394 ::

Holy hell. He so did not just say what I think he said. The ninja just looked at him. Aoshi Shinomori did not joke. He wasn't joking. This wasn't a joke. He did just say what I think he said.

"Well shit." Sanosuke managed. "How the hell did that happen? I mean, I'm Sekihotai, I would have fucking noticed if I'd been Touched."

"In the conventional sense."

"In the conventional sense? What does that mean? What other sense is there?"

"Regressive genes."

"What? No way, if I had regressive genes I'd have been Touched a hundred times over by now." Sanosuke rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache begin to form.

"Wolf genes only respond to like genes."

"This doesn't make sense, neither of my parents were-" Sanosuke cut himself off, the answer hitting him like blow to his gut. Hell, that made sense. Why hadn't he thought of that before? Well, besides denial, there was fear and pain, along with unpleasant memories, but still, hello?

The irony, Sanosuke thought with bitter humor. Aku Sentou kills Captain Sagara's entire division to prevent any from becoming Touched right in the middle of their war with the Shinsengumi, and the only one they miss actually does get Touched. Sanosuke dropped his head in his hands. And it's a surviving Shinsengumi Captain that finishes the process. Sanosuke couldn't help himself: he began to laugh.

"Thanks Shinomori, at least now I know what the hell is going on." Sanosuke managed to get out through his laughter. He stood and left, not caring if the ninja thought he'd cracked. Sanosuke grinned to the night sky. Now that he knew, it was a whole different ball game.

But first, he had to figure out what to do about Aku Sentou.


Dealing with his employers turned out to be the easy part. Hell, his fellow workers didn't even notice anything different. Though the Touched he met on the job sure as hell noticed. He hadn't figured out why exactly he's so acknowledged, regular Wolves weren't usually respected much among the Touched population – which was ironically due to their extensive involvement in Aku Sentou and the Shinsengumi.

His life seemed to be full of irony recently.

But no, the people he really had to look out for were the Juppongatona. Because, stupid him, he had gone to a damn ninja for help. A damn Oniwabanshu ninja. Who hired out to anyone with enough money to pay. Who had someone in their organization that was deathly ill. Someone who, most likely, was very precious to their leader.

A leader who had given information to Makoto Shishio on Kenshin and Battousai, and him. Who had told their enemies of his newest status as Touched. And that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

Sano hated ninja's.

He hadn't really noticed the smell until it wasn't there anymore. As he'd come to know about his new senses, some things popped out immediately, and others were subtle. And just as he hadn't noticed the oppressing feeling of magic in the Oniwabanshu restaurant until he'd left, he also hadn't noticed the smell until it was gone. A particularly repugnant smell, that he'd eventually discerned as the smell of illness.

That turned out to be very bad for him.

Worse for Kenshin, who had crossed blades with the man more than once. And crossing blades left its mark; Shinomori would know Kenshin more than most. On top of that, he had to watch out for the Hitokiri himself. As much as he'd wanted to break down before and spill, and as much as he knew Kenshin suspected something, Sanosuke was still indecisive. Kenshin was an Aku Sentou Agent. And Aku Sentou had no love for the Wolves, this Sanosuke knew first hand.


And then, unfortunately, there was Saitou.